CAMPAIGN groups protesting against a proposal to site a windfarm on a hill between the Don and Dee valleys are asking local residents to join their fight.
Stop Turbines on Pressendye (StoP) and Cushnie Wind Action Group (CWAG) want them to urge the Scottish Government to reject an appeal recently lodged by Cushnie Wind Energy against Aberdeenshire Council's decision to refuse planning permission for
the development on the hill of Pressendye between Tarland and Cushnie.
Aberdeenshire Councillors were cheered at a Marr Area Committee meeting in August when they rejected the proposals, which, if they had been passed, would have seen seven 125m high turbines built along the ridge of Pressendye. The councillors agreed with objectors that the development would have had an unacceptable impact on a sensitive site, close to the Cairngorm National Park.
The Council received around 570 letters against the proposal, which the protesters say is a very high level of public opposition to a planning application.
A spokesman for SToP said: "This was an important decision. We see it as a test case, which, if it is allowed to succeed, would open the floodgates for windfarms in much of the North-east's – and Scotland's - most beautiful scenery. The Scottish Government has already overturned a council decision to refuse the application for the windfarm on Clashnarae Hill near Kildrummy. We know that other developers are prospecting on other hills even closer to the Dee than Pressendye."
Deadline for objections is December 18 which should be sent to the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals, 4 The Courtyard, Callendar Business Park, Callendar Road, Falkirk, FK1 1XR or by emailing them at DPEA@Scotland.gsi.gov.uk. The reference for the appeal is P/PPA/110/2014.
The 699-hectare site, north of Tarland and west of Leochel Cushnie is partly owned by the Forestry Commission and one individual and is a mix of grouse moor and commercial conifer plantation.
Calculations showed that the development could provide enough electricity to power between 7,500 and 15,500 homes.
Concerns voiced by objectors included the impact of the development on wildlife and area water supply, damage to existing roads by construction traffic, detrimental impact on local historic sites and monuments and a decline in tourism in the area.
The Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Scottish Natural Heritage were among the objectors.
