Highland Council considers launching judicial review of Strath Oykel wind farm plan in Sutherland 

Highland Council is considering challenging the controversial decision by Scottish ministers to grant planning permission for the Strath Oykel Wind farm, it has emerged.

The local authority is discussing whether to seek a judicial review of the ministers’ decision, which went against the recommendations of the government’s own planning reporters.

North, west and central Sutherland ward councillor Michael Baird said: “Planners believe there is a strong case, and they are consulting James Findlay KC, who represented the council at the public inquiry held into the Strath Oykel wind farm.”

Wind farm campaign group No Ring of Steel Kyle of Sutherland (NORoS) is aware of the discussions. Group administrator Tisi Dutton said NORoS considered the ministers’ decision to be “flawed”.

Meanwhile, Cllr Baird has also written to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit after being told that an objection to the wind farm from Creich Community Council had not been passed on.

It was thought that the 11-turbine, 73MW wind farm proposed by Energiekontor to go on a site above Rosehall, Altass, and Brae was likely to be refused after it attracted 231 public objections and was opposed by Highland Council.

The authority’s objection led to a public inquiry in October 2023, and the findings of the planning reporters were published in February last year.

The reporters concluded: “On balance, we find that the benefits of the proposed development, even in the context of considerable policy support for the type of development proposed, would not outweigh its significant adverse visual and residential amenity effects …. Accordingly, we recommend that consent should be refused.”

In a letter to the Northern Times (see page 10), former NoROS secretary Tracey Smith said that residents in the Rosehall area and beyond were ‘devastated’ by the ministers’ decision.

She said: “After their extensive work, the reporters recommended refusal of the scheme for its visual, noise, and cumulative effect on local properties, the lack of detailed information on site access, and concern about the provision of mitigation measures to protect the local environment.

“Despite this and all the previous objections, the Scottish ministers have decided to recommend the plan for approval.”

Judicial review is a legal process that allows a person to challenge a decision made by a public body. The process involves a judge reviewing the decision-making process to ensure that the law has been followed.

Danish businessman and Sutherland landowner Anders Holch-Povlsen launched an ultimately unsuccessful judicial review of Highland Council’s decision to give the green light to the Sutherland Spaceport.

Meanwhile, Cllr Baird said it was a “breach of democracy” that Creich Community Council’s objection to the Strath Oykel Wind Farm had not been included on the Energy Consents Unit website.

He said: “The newly appointed Creich Community Council is extremely angry that its submission has not been taken into account by ministers.”

A report on Strath Oykel Wind Farm will be made to the North Planning Application Committee (NPAC) when it meets in Inverness next Wednesday.

A Highland Council spokesperson said: “Officers are currently considering the terms of the decision and the options that are available to them. These include a judicial review.

“The council has three months from the date of the decision to lodge a petition for judicial review in the Court of Session, should it decide to do so.”

NoROS is organising a public meeting at Bonar Bridge Community Hall on Thursday, February 13, which Sutherland MSP Maree Todd is expected to attend.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss recently proposed renewable energy developments around the Kyle of Sutherland area.