April 14, 2017
Scotland

Controversial Perthshire turbine scheme is refused by panel of councillors

By Perthshire Advertiser | 14 Apr 2017 | www.dailyrecord.co.uk

A new wind farm proposed near Braco would have looked like a “bike crash” when viewed alongside others if it had been approved, according to one councillor.

Council officers had already recommended the scheme, most recently known as Strathallan Wind Farm, be refused ahead of local councillor Tom Gray expressing his opinion about the proposal at a meeting on Wednesday this week.

Perth and Kinross Council’s development management committee heard that planners had received 419 letters objecting to the nine turbine project, but only one letter of support.

Many of the objections had asked how the application could possibly be approved when an earlier application for four at the same spot had been refused.

Graham Donnachie, an agent for applicants Green Cat Renewables, said a landscape study conducted by consultants David Tyldesley and Associates had concluded the area could accommodate eight to 12 turbines.

But Councillor Mike Barnacle pointed out the author of that study had stated the document should not used by councils to determine individual applications.

Committee convener Councillor Gray said he was “appalled” to see another application come forward for the site and moved that the officer’s recommendation to refuse the application should be accepted. He said that from his Strathallan home he could already see around 100 turbines operating in the area and went on to say an extra nine “would look like a bike crash when they are turning”.

Seconding the motion, fellow Strathallan ward councillor, Murray Lyle, said he believed Mr Donnachie was trying to “defend the indefensible” .

The application was unanimously refused.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/04/14/controversial-perthshire-turbine-scheme-is-refused-by-panel-of-councillors/