Groups hopes ruling will make developers more cautious in future
A major Scottish environmental charity has welcomed the knock-back of a proposed windfarm in the shadow of Ben Wyvis in the Highlands.
PI Renewables wanted to place 14 turbines on the slopes of Carn Gorm, a hill near the Ross-shire Munro.
However, this was opposed by the John Muir Trust (JMT) and the Scottish Mountaineering Council leading to Highland Council rejecting the plan.
The company challenged this decision but a public local inquiry has now dismissed the appeal.
We hope erergy companies will get the message that future applications impacting on wild land areas are likely to fail
John Low from the JMT said this is crucial victory in the long term campaign to protect Scotland’s wild places from industrial-scale development.
Low, who gave evidence at the inquiry, said: “This decision emphasises the strong protection for wild land promised by the Scottish Government last year.”
In part, the ruling was based on the fact that the proposed development was on an area designated as wild land in a map developed by Scottish Natural Heritage, and therefore worthy of extra levels of protection through planning processes.
He said: “We are especially heartened that in his 20-page ruling, the Scottish Government reporter highlighted the detrimental impact on Wild Land Area 29 of the proposed scheme.
“In support of his decision, he also cited the latest Scottish planning policy, which points out that many of our more remote upland, mountain and coastal areas have little or no capacity to accept new development.
“Coming on top of a series of recent rulings to protect wild land at Glen Affric, Caithness, Highland Perthshire and the Monadhliath Mountains this latest decision suggests that the Wild Land Areas map seems to have introduced consistency into the decision-making process.
“We now hope that energy companies will get the message that future applications for large-scale wind farms impacting on Wild Land Areas are likely to fail.”
The Trust is continuing its campaign against a number of applications for large scale wind farms in Wild Land Area 34 in Sutherland including Sallachy and Glencassley, which are still awaiting decisions by the Scottish Government.
