Campaigners against a solar farm near Forfar have been assured an online window for objections to the plan will be kept open.
It comes after an IT glitch put Angus Council’s planning portal out of action this week.
Opponents of the Lownie plan feared they might miss out on lodging comments ahead of a case deadline.
But council planning chiefs have said comments for or against the scheme will still be allowed.
The planning portal is a well-used resource on the council website.
It carries details of applications lodged with the council, and proposals which have been approved.
People can also make representations online in support or in opposition to planning bids.
Emergency IT work
The public access link to the portal went down at the start of the week.
An emergency fix is due to be completed this weekend.
They posted: “Thank you for your patience with the ongoing issue we have been experiencing with the Public Access software for planning and building standards.
“We are currently working with our supplier and have identified the issue and will be completing emergency work over the weekend to bring the system back online.
“It is anticipated we should be back online all going well on Sunday July 30.”
The authority said people can submit comments by email to planning@angus.gov.uk
“Any comment received by email during the period the service is offline will be taken into account,” they said.
“Comments will be accepted up to the point where a report making a recommendation on an application is prepared by the planning service.”
Solar bid some way off going to committee
And they assured parties interested in the Cotton of Lownie solar plan their comments will still be welcome.
“It will be some time before the application is reported to committee and interested parties will have additional time to make comment, which will compensate for any time lost while the public access system is down.”
Forfar concrete block firm Laird Bros. want to power their operations with power from the 30MW solar farm east of the town.
Plans were submitted in May 2022 for land covering around 150 acres.
The solar farm would occupy farmland on both sides of the B9128 Forfar to Carnoustie road near Kingsmuir.
Objectors say it would use up valuable arable land in what they have called the “bread basket of Scotland”.
