Windfarm firm unveils 22-turbine plan for Kilry Glen 

A controversial windfarm plan has been unveiled for the “idyllic and unspoilt” glens on the Perthshire/Angus border.

Wind Prospect Developments Ltd has published plans for the 22-turbine Saddle Hill windfarm two miles northwest of Kilry.

Its 22 turbines, measuring up to 25 metres in height, could provide enough energy for 23,000 homes.

But protesters have slammed moves to build “industrial” structures in the countryside.

Derek Powell of Angus Communities Windfarm Action Group (ACWAG) said: “When you take all these applications and scoping assessments and put them in a line, there’s hundreds of them across the Glens.

“Especially with these larger structures there needs to be something done. MSPs need to get their fingers out.

“We’ve become aware of families recently who suddenly find these things springing up on their doorstep.

“Because of planning legislation, nationally and not to do with the council, you don’t have to be notified unless you’re within 20 metres of a turbine. So you can have them pretty much in your window and by that point there’s not much you can do.”

Mr Powell said the prospect of an additional development in the Glens would be a further example of communities being “ridden over”, but added that people were “starting to wake up” to the powers they have to make their opinions known.

“It’s been slow, but people are starting to know where to go to object to the likes of the Govals and Frawney.”

Edinburgh-based Wind Prospects Developments Prospect’s proposal meets the criteria for Environmental Impact Assessment and the firm is now undertaking a scoping exercise to identify environmental effects that require consideration in the EIA.

A “meet the developer” event will be held at Kilry Village Hall on September 26, from 3pm to 7pm.

Project manager Rory Carmichael said: “We hope to meet as many people as possible from the local community at our event on September 26 to introduce the project, listen to feedback and share what will happen ahead of the submission of a planning application.

“We dedicate our time and expertise in considering a site to decide if it’s the right place to locate a windfarm. The studies we have carried so far suggest that the Saddle Hill site could be a suitable location for a windfarm.

“We are in the early stages of developing the proposal and are keen to ensure that feedback is taken into account and reflected in the final design where possible to create a windfarm that is considered acceptable by as many people as possible.”

The firm previously undertook a pre-scoping exercise for a wind energy development at Saddle Hill in 2011, formerly referred to as Hill of Fernyhirst.

Scheduled monuments within the scoping area include the Kilry standing stone, cairns at Cairn Plew, Torrax and Birkhill, and hut circles at Whitehouse.

The land is used for coniferous forestry and sheep-grazing moorland.

This year the Scottish Government introduced plans for new turbine conservation zones that aim to protect areas identified as having significant landscape value.

In seeking to prohibit windfarms in the near 20% of the country that has been allocated national park or scenic area status, opponents fear the Government has opened up the rest of the country for development.