Scottish Energy minister Fergus Ewing has approved a new 67 turbine wind farm at Stronelairg – the largest ever proposed in the Highlands – on the Monadhliath mountains. The area had been identified as one of Scotland’s ‘Core Areas of Wild Land’ by Scottish Natural Heritage, and conservationists had hoped that the proposed new protection for such wild areas would result in rejection of the plan. Plans for another wind farm at Newfield Moor – on low moorland northeast of Lockerbie – were rejected by Mr Ewing, although this was far from wild land areas. The latter plan had seen a £20,000 wind monitoring test mast destroyed through vandalism.
Objectors to the Stronelairg plans included the government’s own conservation advisers, SNH, and the Cairngorms National Park authority as well as the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) and Ramblers who represent walkers and mountaineers, and the John Muir Trust which campaigns to protect the UK’s remaining areas of wild land. The two local SNP councillors in Badenoch and Strathspey – to the south of the windfarm – had also voted against it.
Helen McDade, Head of Policy for the John Muir Trust said: “This development flies in the face of advice from Scottish Natural Heritage which objected to the development on the grounds that it would destroy the character of one of Scotland’s key areas of wild land.
“It is unfortunate that SSE’s views seem to hold greater sway over Ministers than the opinions of the Scottish Government’s own expert body on the natural environment.
“We are concerned about the wider implications of this decision for the future of wild land across Scotland. The Stronelairg Wind Farm is a massive industrial development in the heart of the Monadhliath Mountains – Area 17 of the Core Areas of Wild Land map.
“This decision would suggest that the Scottish Government intends either to remove the Monadhliaths from the wild land map, or to render the entire map meaningless. We will continue to fight for wild land in Scotland.” In a press release, the Trust said it was ‘considering its options’ following the decision.
David Gibson, Chief Officer for the MCofS, said “The MCofS objected to Stronelairg because it will be a massively intrusive industrial development located on a 700 metre high plateau, meaning that the height of turbines will extend to more than 800m above sea level (2500 feet) and be visible from mountains for miles around and from the Cairngorms National Park.
“The Scottish government appears to be oblivious to the adverse impacts of such developments on tourism. Even research studies sponsored by the renewables industry itself already show a worrying and serious trend in the adverse impact on visitor intentions, based on their perceptions of wind farm developments.
“The Scottish government will publish its latest planning policy (NPF3 and SPP) on 23 June in which it will lay out the measures by which it aims to protect Scotland’s world-renowned landscape from onshore wind farm developments. If Stronelairg is indicative of the value it places on our landscape, there seems to be little hope for its future, and for that of the many businesses and thousands of jobs in rural communities which rely on tourists who come to Scotland for its landscape, unless strong protective measures are put in place.”
The Cairngorms National Park authority had described the impact of the original Stronelairg plans on the National Park as “significant, adverse, and in some locations, overwhelming”.
An opinion piece on the Stronelairg plans – written by Alan McCoombes of the John Muir Trust – was featured on Walkhighlands last year.