Backwater Reservoir windfarm plan draws fire from leading charities 

Backwater Reservoir. DC Thomson

The UK’s leading wild land conservation charity has criticised plans to build a windfarm on the edge of Perthshire.

Developer Eneco UK submitted an application for 18 turbines between Glen Prosen and Glen Isla, each 125 metres in height, to the Scottish Government in January.

The proposed 59MW Macritch Hill development is intended for Scottish Water land at Backwater Reservoir.

But the John Muir Trust has claimed the development will negatively affect the Cairngorms National Park if it goes ahead.

John Low of the trust, based in Pitlochry, said it does not support “industrial-scale wind energy developments” on wild land.

“We are seriously concerned about the cumulative impact of the proposed development,” he said.

“The John Muir Trust believes that the Macritch windfarm would have a significant and detrimental effect both in terms of combined visibility and sequential impact.

“No matter what they do a development of this scale will have a major visual impact.

“The Statue of Liberty is 93 metres high; if I was to suggest that putting 18 of them in this area would have a negligible additional impact on the landscape, I don’t think my view would be given any credence.”

The trust states other developments in the area include the operational Drumderg (16 turbines), application-stage Tullymurdoch (seven) and Saddle Hill (14), while Green Burn at Drumfork is at the scoping stage.

Eneco UK had scaled back earlier plans for up to 33 turbines along the water and the firm believes the windfarm would help reduce the utilities giant’s electricity bill by generating 138 Gigawatt hours of electricity each year.

A spokesman for Eneco UK said: “Following public consultation, Eneco has reduced the number of turbines from 33 to 18.

“Eneco has moved the turbines from the hilltops and designed the windfarm development in a valley that has already seen human intervention.

“This means that the Macritch Hill Wind Farm will have almost no visibility from the core of the national park, and will have little scope to interact with any other consented or proposed windfarms in the area.”

Known as Macritch Hill after the 475-metre elevation to the east of Backwater Reservoir, the project will stand on 1,200 hectares of shore-side land at the 397-metre Little Ley.

Eneco was awarded the rights to explore the development in 2012, and has since undertaken an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and technical surveys to determine the scale and design of the proposed windfarm.

Eneco states that a series of consultations have also been carried out in the community.

Other Eneco UK projects include the operational Tullo and Twinshiels windfarms (42MW) in Laurencekirk and Lochluichart (69MW) in the Highlands, while Highland developments Burn of Whilk and Moy are both under construction.

The objection follows that of Stewart Miller from the International Raptor Research and Conservation, who claimed a “baseline bird study” conducted by the developer did not go far enough in analysing local bird populations and their risk.

Eneco UK rebuffed his claims, and considers there would be “no adverse effect” on species.

Mr Miller said: “The data provided by the vantage point surveys and flight-line records show that this development will kill geese and a variety of raptor species such as osprey, golden eagle, goshawk, peregrine falcon and, potentially, merlin and white-tailed eagles.

“The above are species included in the list of target species for the site. However, it should also be noted that short-eared owls, hen harriers, buzzards, kestrels and sparrowhawks have been excluded.”

Mr Miller said that the company’s 13-month survey was too short, adding: “This is not a long enough period to give an accurate survey result and therefore is incomplete.”