Angus campaigners face a wait to see if their victory over a 30MW solar scheme for farmland near Forfar will signal the end of the planning bid.
On Tuesday, Angus councillors rejected the scheme for two swathes of PV panels on farmland at Cotton of Lownie.
Development standards committee members followed the recommendation of planning officials in blocking the scheme near Kingsmuir.
Forfar firm Laird Bros. wanted to develop the solar farm and battery storage to power their concrete block making operations.
But officers said the scale of the solar array would cause “significant harm” to the local landscape.
The application generated almost 300 objections.
Two-year solar scheme ‘shadow’ over locals
And several residents made heartfelt pleas to the committee to protect their local area.
Lead campaigner Pam Hamilton said it was an “industrial power plant”.
She described the Laird plan as being “purely profit driven”.
Another resident, Russell Beaton said the application had cast a “shadow” over locals for the past two years.
“The committee has a moral obligation to make the right decision,” he said.
“Please recognise our utter dismay…at the tick box effort from the developer to meet their obligations in regard – or in this case utter disregard – of those affected.”
And neighbouring farmer Valerie Orr said: “We’re new to Angus…to produce local food for local people is far from easy.
“Our biggest challenge is access to land we rely on seasonal lets, renting for six months at a time to feed our stock.
“I think we can all agree there is not much nutritional value in a solar panel.”
‘We’re not monsters’, say applicants
Neil Sutherland of applicant Industria Solar said they had tried to meet the concerns of locals.
“We’re not monsters,” he told the committee.
“We’ve tried hard to work with the council.
“We’ve listed to the community and done what we can to make this an acceptable proposal.”
He added: “We’ve reduced the solar panels by 20%, we are trying to make this work.”
The committee heard the renewable energy could cut Laird’s electricity bill by around two-thirds.
But planners said the green scheme’s impact on the landscape was too far-reaching.
Single committee voice of support
And councillors agreed – bar one voice in favour of the scheme.
Forfar SNP councillor Linda Clark said: “Fundamentally I do not see any benefit as far as this is concerned.
“There’s too much against it.
“It’s not the right planning application and it’s definitely not in the right place.”
Monifieth Conservative Craig Fotheringham added: ” We have to take our communities with us, and in this case we certainly do not have the community with us.”
But Montrose councillor Bill Duff was supportive of the project.
“I’m going to take a different view.
“It may not be perfect, but planning is often about balance.
“This will provide off-grid electricity to a local employer and that increases their resilience.”
He also said councils need “clear direction” from the Scottish Government on the question of using prime agricultural land for such developments.
“At the moment it’s sitting about 1% in Angus and that doesn’t give me any concern.”
But he could not secure a seconder to approve the application.
Committee convener David Cheape led the refusal motion.
“This would cause significant and adverse landscape change, giving rise to more than localised impact,” he said.
Locals must now wait to see if the council’s refusal of the major application is appealed to the Scottish Government.
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