A judge has dismissed a judicial review challenge against the award of planning permission to Vattenfall’s 77MW Clashindarroch 2 wind farm in Scotland.
Conservation group Wildcat Haven had sought to reverse the permit decision amid concerns about the development’s impact on Scottish wildcat habitats in the Clashindarroch Forest.
It argued the approval, granted last June following a public inquiry, was unlawful due to an incorrect application of mitigation hierarchy concerning how negative effects would be addressed by the developer.
The wind farm is due to be built adjacent to Vattenfall’s operational 36.9MW Clashindarroch project (pictured) in Aberdeenshire.
Following a January hearing at Edinburgh’s Court of Session, Lord Sandison today (8 February) determined Wildcat Haven had been unable to establish the decision was unlawful.
“It is clear that many interested individuals entertain reasonable and serious concerns about the effect of the proposed development on the wildcat population at Clashindarroch,” the judge wrote.
“However, it has not been established that the decisions made by the reporter and ultimately by the Ministers were attended by any error of law.
“In those circumstances there is no room for intervention by the court.”
A Vattenfall spokesperson welcomed the ruling, saying it “completely vindicates” the Scottish government’s decision to consent the project. https://renews.biz/91133/judge-dismisses-permit-challenge-against-clashindarroch-2/?fbclid=IwAR1M7HGmOj4vgBLgw_Ut9dFPQ0JCOc9GnKNM7FZu-7OjoFTpgYGyz6F95ik
The judgement can be found here https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/…/pdf…/2024csoh10.pdf…
0 Comments