By Richard Burdge
A decision to reject a Perthshire wind farm has been overturned at appeal.
Last year, Perth and Kinross Council refused the 11 turbine wind farm near
the existing Drumderg wind farm beside Alyth, on landscape and visual
impact grounds.
The company behind the project which, it claims, could create enough
electricity to power 19,000 homes, appealed the decision and the Scottish
Government reporter has found in its favour.
Andrew Sikes determined the council had “acted in an unreasonable manner”
and he also found them liable for expenses.
The site is located 2.8 miles north east of Bridge of Cally and had
attracted a number of objectors including the Cairngorms National Park
Authority which concluded the turbine blades and hubs would be prominent on
the skyline.
The council had argued if the wind farm were allowed to be built it would
have an unacceptable impact on tourism in the area.
Mr Sikes said an important factor was the need to identify a location for
wind turbine developments saying: “It would make a valuable contribution to
the Scottish Government’s renewable energy and carbon reduction targets.”
He noted Alyth Community Council had raised concerns regarding the impact
of the development on transport infrastructure as access for heavy goods
vehicles would be via Alyth.
During the construction of Drumderg, the village was often choked with
heavy traffic
However, in Mr Sikes’ opinion this could be adequately dealt with by
imposing conditions.
Mr Sikes concluded that “there are no material consideration which would
still justify refusing to grant planning permission”.
In a separate report on expenses he said: “I conclude that the council has
behaved unreasonably.
“Its report of handling contains factual errors, fails to accurately
describe the assessment of the proposed development by Scottish Natural
Heritage and includes an incorrect and misleading summary of that assessment.
“Importantly, the report fails to discuss the conflicting landscape advice
it received and explain why it favoured that of the Cairngorms National
Park Authority.”
The reporter added the council report “selectively” referred to a tourism
study.
The applicants have estimated that £7 million will be injected into the
local community during construction.
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