The proposed site of the Glencassley windfarm
Campaigners have welcomed the Scottish Government’s refusal of plans for two Highland windfarms.
The Glencassley and Sallachy developments in Sutherland would have been in wild land areas.
The John Muir Trust said the Holyrood administration had made the right decision.
Chief executive Stuart Brooks said: “This is tremendous news for everyone who has worked to highlight that these developments were proposed in the wrong place.
“We are particularly delighted that the Scottish Government is following through and using the wild land areas map to provide protection to Scotland’s nationally important wild land areas.”
Helen McDade, head of policy at the John Muir Trust, said: “The decision is a victory for those of us who have long campaigned for Scotland’s wild land to be protected from industrial-scale development.
“We hope this persuades energy companies looking at potential developments in wild land areas to get a clear message that the Government will protect these special places in the public interest.”
SSE, which wanted to build 23 turbines at the Glencassley Estate near Lairg, said it was ‘very disappointed’ by the refusal. WKN, which applied for a similar development at Sallachy, said it was ‘deeply disappointed’ by the decision.
The Mountaineering Council of Scotland also opposed both proposals.
The Scottish Government recently rejected plans for windfarms at Allt Duine in the Monadhliath Mountains and Talladh-a-Bheithe on Rannoch Moor.
GeorgeH
17 November 2015Excellent news. Not needed, not wanted.
Keith Ratcliffe
17 November 2015Up until recently it seemed that the Scottish Government rubber-stamped all wind farm developments but these recent refusals appear to be a change of heart. So what has changed?
Pete Owens
18 November 2015Good news. Great to see that the Scottish wild land map is really being used and was not just a cosmetic excercise. Well done JMT and others - the message is getting through.
One day, we might do the same here in Wales, but there's a long way to go. We have Natural Resources Wales to look after our countryside and the name tells you all you need to know about them. It seems our ecosystems are just there to provide us with 'services', so our open land is a resource that we can use up, for example by concreting it over to make a race track so we can burn a lot more petrol (see the other news item on Grough). Why would Wales need a wild land map if we can't even understand ideas like our responsibility to care for our land and our planet sustainably?