By Graham Brown

ANGUS CAMPAIGNERS were celebrating last night after winning their fight to halt two wind farm developments in the district.

A Scottish Government planning reporter’s decision to dismiss appeals lodged over planned schemes at Montreathmont, near Friockheim, and Mountboy, close to Montrose, was hailed as a victory for the communities who joined forces through two campaign groups to battle the plans at a public inquiry.

That inquiry was staged in Montrose between last November and February this year after two companies appealed Angus Council’s failure to determine their planning applications within prescribed time limits.

The Montreathmont Wind Ltd proposal involved siting 11 turbines—with a maximum blade height of 126 metres—on a 546-hectare site west of the Arbroath-Brechin road.

The second application, by Novera Energy plc, was for a three-turbine wind farm on 52 hectares of farmland west of Rossie School. The maximum blade height of that scheme was indicated at 105 metres.

Scottish Ministers’ Reporter Michael Shiel has now released his findings, and in both cases said the renewable energy contribution the wind farms would make did not outweigh what would be “significant local impact.”

On the larger, Montreathmont plan, Mr Shiel said the scheme would comply with many relevant Angus plans and policies, but overall was against the district’s development plan.

Mr Shiel also highlighted the scale of the proposed turbines, saying they were simply “too large.”

“It is generally acknowledged that a negative landscape effect can be achieved not only by the removal of characteristic features, but also by the addition of incongruous new elements.

“I consider that the introduction of 126 metre high, moving structures into the current landscape of Montreathmont Moor and its immediate surroundings would have such an adverse effect,” he added.

“Whilst noting the broad support of the council and SNH for the appropriateness of Montreathmont Moor as a suitable location for wind farms in principle....I find that whatever benefits in landscape terms might be derived from the containment of the turbines within the forest would be outweighed by their height when contrasted with that of the trees.

“They would dominate the landscape of the area to an unacceptable degree and would fail to fit comfortably into the overall landscape setting,” the Reporter continued.

Similar concerns over the dominant aspect of wind turbines were expressed in relation to the Mountboy plan, which the reporter said would have a “very small” generating capacity.

“Deciding what impacts are appropriate in any specific circumstances clearly involves a significant element of judgment but, from my assessment of the evidence and visits to the appeal site and the surrounding area, I consider that this proposal would result in a significant adverse landscape and visual impact and would be detrimental to the amenity of local residents and recreational users of the Rossie Moor area.”

He added, “Whilst it (Planning Advice Note 45) states that it is important for society at large to accept wind farms as a feature of many areas of Scotland for the foreseeable future, I do not believe that this means that they must be accepted in every circumstance, irrespective of their particular impact.

“That the adverse impact in this case would be confined to a relatively small area does not mean that it should necessarily be over-ridden by the wider benefits associated with the increased provision of energy from renewable sources.

“In the particular circumstances of this case, I find that the small contribution that this wind farm would make to Scottish and UK renewable targets does not outweigh its significant adverse local impact.”

The proposals were fought on two fronts by action groups Friends of the Forest (FoF) and STORM (Stop Turbines on Rossie Moor), with one campaigner last night lauding their combined drive as a key factor in convincing the government reporter to block the bids.

FoF chairman Jim Hair said, “We are so pleased with this decision.

“It made no sense to put wind turbines in a low wind area, but there were so many other reasons why these turbines should never have been considered, not least their impact on the landscape, wildlife, ancient woodland, a much loved public amenity and neighbouring properties.

“This proposal brought uncertainty to many people living and working in the area and divided our community.”

He continued, “It is sad that, in order to protect our environment, such a great amount of time and money had to be wasted, not just by ourselves but also by Angus Council and many other agencies.

“This is the right decision. We just hope that at last we can all put this fiasco behind us and get on with our lives.

“On behalf of Friends of the Forest, I would like to thank all those who have supported us and worked tirelessly over the past years—your help and encouragement have been greatly appreciated,” he concluded.

Mrs Jo Woolley of STORM told The Courier, “We are just absolutely delighted with the result. The value of the location placed on it by the people who live here and love it has been recognised.”

She then praised her fellow campaigners for avoiding the potential pitfalls of a conjoined inquiry.

“With two applications there was a potential for people to play off against each other, but the Montreathmont people are an extraordinary group, and I would like to think that we helped them as well.

“We did things on each others’ behalf because we believed so strongly in what we were doing and we are just delighted with the inquiry outcome,” she said.