Scottish Ministers recently rejected a s.36 application for a 34-turbine wind farm at Glenmorie in Sutherland.  The decision is one of the first to deal with the new wild land areas and wild land policy changes in the Scottish Planning Policy(2).

The proposed development generated over 300 objections with Highland Council unanimously opposed to the project on the basis of its impact on the landscape and scenery of the area.  Scottish Ministers agreed with the findings of the Reporter that the wind farm would cause unacceptable landscape and visual impacts, including on wild land in the Highland Council area.

Whilst the Reporter’s report predated the changes in the SPP, the decision letter itself dealt expressly with them.  It also clarified that wind farms are not sustainable development per se but that before a proposal can take advantage of the presumption now contained in SPP(2) an assessment has to be made of its actual impacts.  In this particular case the impacts on landscape, visual amenity and wild land justified refusal.

James Findlay of Terra Firma represented Highland Council at the Public Local Inquiry.