Plans for new 17-turbine wind farm south of Nairn turned down by Highland Council

Credit: By Federica Stefani | Published: 26 August 2023 | inverness-courier.co.uk ~~

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Plans for a new wind farm on the Dava Moor south of Nairn have been turned down by Highland Council.

At the latest meeting of the local authority’s south planning committee councillors were unanimous in rejecting the proposal to build the new 17-turbine Lethen Wind Farm, about 16 miles south of the town.

Council officers had recommended rejecting the application as it showed, in their view, “insufficient regard to preserving natural beauty of the countryside”.

Fred Olsen Renewables wants to erect 17 wind turbines with a maximum blade tip height of 185 metres alongside 14.5 km of access tracks, a substation, energy storage facility, control building, meteorological mast and ancillary infrastructure.

The wind farm would be operational for 35 years.

However all members of the planning committee agreed that the impact on the wider area – on which close to 400 wind turbines have already been built or are under construction – would have a significant adverse impact on the area.

Nairn and Cawdor councillor Paul Oldham said: “Wind turbines are a regrettable necessity as we move towards Net Zero and I have been pleased when I’ve seen other applications that generally the applicants have been trying to hide the turbines and put them in locations where they are not so visible, certainly from the public highway.

“But it’s very obvious when you look at the visualisations [for this scheme] the effect that this is going to have, especially on the B9007 and around Lochindorb, but also as far as the A939.

“It is not well positioned. It’s going to have bad visual impact everywhere, made worse by the fact that they are over 150m tall, so will have to be illuminated at night. So I strongly agree with the officers and propose that we raise an objection.”

Nairn provost Laurie Fraser was among those agreed to the objection, as did Badenoch and Strathspey councillor Bill Lobban, who stated that the application “made a mockery of the Dava moor Special Landscape Area Citation.

He said: “This makes Tom nan Clach wind farm look reasonable.

“I would argue that even its local economic benefit is questionable.”

Source: By Federica Stefani | Published: 26 August 2023 | inverness-courier.co.uk

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