Refusal recommended for Moray windfarm

A planning application for a 12-turbine windfarm in Moray is being recommended for refusal.

More than 1300 people have lodged objections with Moray Council to the proposed development at Brown Muir, midway between Fogwatt and Rothes.

By contrast the proposal has generated 20 representations in support.

The application will be considered at a special meeting of the council’s planning and regulatory services committee next Tuesday.

A report to members says that national policy is generally supportive of renewable energy development and a reduction in the number of turbines compared to an earlier application had reduced the scale of the proposed development, with turbines removed from the highest parts of Brown Muir.

However, the benefits of the proposal were not considered to outweigh the ‘unacceptable significant adverse landscape and visual effects.’

The report concludes: “Policy may indicate support for a development which contributes towards the transition to a low carbon economy, but it requires the quality of the natural and built environment to be safeguarded.

“This would not be achieved here in terms of the number, height and siting of the turbines and the resultant unacceptable and significant adverse landscape and visual impacts to Brown Muir and the surrounding locality.”

Moray Council area stretches from Tomintoul in the south to the shores of the Moray Firth, from Keith in the east to Forres in the west. The council and its 4,500 employees respond to the needs of 92,500 residents in this beautiful part of Scotland, which nestles between Aberdeenshire and the Highlands.

Famous for its colony of dolphins, fabulous beaches and more malt whisky distilleries than any where else in Scotland, Moray is a thriving area and a great place to live.

Headquartered in  Elgin, the administrative capital of Moray.