By Jamie Ross
A north-east farmer’s hope of installing a massive wind turbine on the edge
of a village has been dashed.
James Beattie wanted to built a 326ft mast on his land in Cornhill, which
could have provided thousands of pounds to local groups each year.
But the scheme – which has attracted hundreds of objections – was thrown
out by the Banff and Buchan area committee yesterday.
Campaigners feared the scale of the turbine was not appropriate to the area.
And a local group against the development even flew a giant blimp near
where the turbine was to be erected to help councillors visualise how big
the mast would be during a site visit last week.
Councillors were yesterday divided on the impact the blimp had in their
decision making.
Yesterday, Michael Roy said the bright red balloon “graphically
demonstrated the effect (the turbine is) going to have and the impact on
the surrounding district”.
“And not only on the surrounding district, but on the amenity of the local
people who live round about it,” he added.
“It has torn the community of Cornhill down the centre.”
Councillor Mark Findlater added: “This turbine will completely dominate
Cornhill,” he said.
Councillor Ian Gray, however, branded the 19ft inflatable as a “red
herring” because it was more than 2,000ft away from the site of the
proposed turbine.
“It’s supported by most of the people in Cornhill. I think it will be
hugely beneficial to the local area and the economy in terms of jobs,” he said.
“The situation of the blimp was a red herring. And to say the village is
split down the middle is farcical to say the least.”
Mr Gray was supported by Fraserburgh representative Brian Topping in
calling for the turbine to go ahead, but was ultimately defeated by
colleagues six votes to two.
Mr Beattie had claimed that his turbine would have supported the local
community to the sum of £23,000 each year for the next 20 years if it were
built.
“If I thought I was messing up and upsetting local neighbours, I would have
withdrawn this long ago,” he said.
In an article last week, we reported that 40 people had objected to the
wind farm. In fact, a total of 217 objections were lodged with
Aberdeenshire Council. Forty of the objectors hired a solicitor to
represent them at a previous Banff and Buchan area committee meeting. There
were also 357 letters of support submitted to the council.
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