A public inquiry will be held over a proposed wind farm in Moffat after councillors objected to the plans.
At Dumfries and Galloway Council’s planning committee last week, elected members voted to raise a formal objection with Scottish Government ministers to the Scoop Hill wind farm plans.
Community Wind Power is bidding to install 60 huge wind turbines on a large stretch of hills located approximately three miles to the southeast of Moffat and seven miles to the north-east of Lockerbie.
The Scottish Government takes the final decision on whether or not the wind farm should go ahead, but the council is one of several key consultees – and numerous councillors are uncomfortable with the scale of the development.
Annandale South Councillor Stephen Thompson said: “The issue for me is the clear significant impact, which is recognised in the landscape architect’s report.”
Nith Councillor David Slater argued that there are too many turbines and, with 23 of the turbines reaching a height of 250m to tip, he insisted that they are also too tall.
Councillor Slater added: “Although they could be hidden by trees, the trees will be gone. In some places, it’s spoiling our hillsides, and there are maybe too many of them.”
David Suttie, the council’s chief planning officer, advised: “We don’t have the power to refuse this, it’s for Scottish Ministers to determine.
“So, if members are minded to put an objection to Scottish Ministers, you do have to give clear grounds for what that is. That would be considered as part of the public inquiry.
Mid and Upper Nithsdale Councillor Jim Dempster, chairman of the planning committee, said: “I will require that, if anyone wants to put forward an objection to Scottish ministers, the mover and seconder I guess will be going to speak at the public inquiry.
“So, you’ll have to be confident doing that in going to defend the position you’ve set because there’s no point in saying you don’t like it.
“That wouldn’t last long. You would have to have sound grounds for a move to notify Scottish ministers.”
Councillor Thompson tabled a motion to raise an objection to the proposed windfarm on the grounds that the development would have a “significant and adverse effect on landscape, character and visual amenity in the locality”, both on an individual and cumulative basis.
It was also stated that the windfarm would have adverse effects on the Moffat Hills regional scenic areas and on core paths and public rights of way.
However, the vote went 9-4 in favour of raising an objection to the consultation. This result will trigger a public inquiry on the matter by the Scottish Government. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/public-inquiry-after-dumfries-galloway-32460050?fbclid=IwAR3v5hNmBG0n1-8sNYKqyLxkuxSSec-aw_zrlLnBqx9cQbbHrxlQXxjgqVo_aem_AXF2VDuh0CnWlRsb788Gvmbj5NFYWj0Krc8DcHA5NLg7oXyaW-WQAgHhMazBEYqD2RkL6qGK6ZIJ_kt_rVrBmfjr
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