By Cheryl Peebles
Taxpayers will foot the bill for the third planning challenge lost by Fife
Council in relation to St Andrews University’s proposed wind farm.
A Scottish Government reporter upheld the university’s appeal against the
north east planning committee’s rejection of amendments to its consent for
Kenly wind farm.
The council will now be liable for a portion of the university’s expenses
in the case, although the amount has yet to be determined.
The ancient Fife seat of learning has previously accused councillors of
persistent unreasonable behaviour over its bid to erect six 328ft high
turbines at Kenly Farm, near Boarhills.
It is awaiting the result of a fourth appeal against refusal to allow it to
lay a nine-mile long underground cable connecting the green energy site to
its estate in St Andrews.
St Andrews councillor Brian Thomson said the university’s victory was no
surprise.
He said: “Scottish Government reporters have now upheld three appeals by
the university regarding the proposed wind farm, and they have clearly
taken the view that the respective applications complied with planning policy.
“I’ve had my concerns about the proposed wind farm, but it’s essential that
planning applications are assessed against the provisions of the
development plan, or other material considerations.
“In this case, where there’s not been a sufficiently robust reason for
refusal, the council has ended up with an award of expenses against it, at
a time when its finances are under a huge strain.”
He urged fellow councillors to move on and acknowledge the positives which
could arise from the development.
He said: “For the university to achieve its aim of becoming a carbon
neutral university would be good for the environment, and spending less on
energy costs would allow the university to invest in other areas, with
knock-on benefits for the local economy.”
Reporter David Russell concluded the council acted in an unreasonable
manner, resulting in liability for expenses.
He said: “In this case the council’s decision notice did not set out any
reasons for its decision to refuse to vary all but one of the conditions.
“The adequacy of the council’s subsequent appeal submissions does not
mitigate this failure.”
Although it has the green light to start site work at Kenly, the university
still needs to reach agreement with the Ministry of Defence on mitigating
the risk of interference with radar at Leuchars Station before it can build
the turbines.
Following the outcome of the appeal a university spokesman said: “We
welcome this decision.
“It effectively keeps the door open to the possibility of the university
becoming carbon neutral for its energy consumption, while we continue to
seek a viable radar mitigation solution for our proposed green energy
scheme at Kenly.”
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