A developer aiming to build a wind turbine near Beechwood in Bonhill will have to appear before West Dunbartonshire Council’s planning committee before plans can be approved.
Councillors last week agreed to defer any decision on plans for the single turbine on land east of Broomhill wood until applicant Harris Smith had answered key questions.
Mr Smith was represented by agent Waseem Hussain at the meeting, but councillors said they had questions that only the developer himself could answer.
Some focused on issues with a 2015 application for the same site.
This included explaining why work on a suitable financial bond to cover restoration liabilities for the site and the community benefit contribution stalled as part of a previous application, which was considered withdrawn in 2021. Mr Smith lodged a second planning bid with the council in 2022, with the application receiving more than 50 objections and refused in 2023 – with concerns over a new shed given as the reason. The revised proposal was seeking the go-ahead to create a single wind turbine with a 30 metre hub and 43 metre tip, as well as an access track, substation and parking spaces.
Residents hit out last year after claiming they had been plagued by works carried out without permission. Homeowners in quiet Broomhill Crescent, on the fringes of Beechwood, said preparation of the ground for the erection of a single wind turbine was already underway – despite no planning permission having been granted.
A council spokesperson said that a Temporary Stop Order had been served on the site in May, with Mr Smith saying that he was resurfacing a road on his land.
Representatives of the Beechwood and Wheatcroft Residents’ Association and Bonhill and Dalmonach Community Council spoke out against the plans at the meeting. The committee was told MSP Jackie Baillie has also objected.
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