Council chiefs have failed in their duty by costing Highlanders any say in a decision that could add 20 giant wind turbines to an area near Inverness where almost 600 are proposed, it was claimed yesterday.
Objectors are expected to converge on a planning meeting in Inverness this morning to complain about that application for Moy, 10 miles south-east of the city.
Fellow campaigners will protest about a 31-turbine scheme proposed for Kincraig, further down the A9 on the western edge of the Cairngorms National Park.
Opponents of the Moy scheme say the council’s failure to consider the plan within a statutory four-month period was woeful and undemocratic.
A company called Carbon Free Moy Ltd wants to build 415ft-high turbines on 852 acres of the Moy Estate at Tomatin.
Objectors allege that developers submitted an inaccurate photomontage of the likely visual impact on the landscape. And they claim council officials failed to allow for a further period of public consultation on revised proposals.
Pat Wells of Strathdearn Against Windfarm Developments (SAWD) is furious that ministers have effectively taken the matter out of councillors’ hands because the report by senior planning officers Ken McCorquodale and Malcolm MacLeod was not debated soon enough.
She claims the council got its dates wrong in relation to the start time of the statutory period.
Mrs Wells said: “Use of the incorrect planning application validation date is another ‘mistake’ in a series made by the planning case officer.
“It has provided an opportunity for the developer to go to appeal, at considerable public expense. We maintain there are no grounds for appeal if the correct date is used.
“The council has been unwilling to acknowledge that a mistake was made. This is very unsatisfactory and gives cause for serious concern in respect of any future planning application where incorrect information is provided and a further public consultation period follows once the errors or omissions in the application are rectified.
“The council should, as a matter of urgency, inform the Directorate of Planning and Environmental Appeals of the error. The appeal should be invalidated and the application determined by area planning committee.”
SAWD claims approval for the Moy scheme would result in considerable visual and noise impacts for residents and visual intrusion for people using the nearby A9 and other local roads.
A spokeswoman for the council said yesterday that the Moy planning application was validated on April 11.
She added: “Theoretically, the four-month period would end on August 11, allowing the applicant to then appeal for non-determination. Additional visualisation information was sought from the developer.
“The date of validation is the date at which the minimum information required by statute has been submitted to the council, in this case April 11.
“It is not unusual for us to seek additional information from developers, but this does not require the clock to be set to ‘zero’ again. The council is following planning regulations.”
Within 37 miles of Moy, 210 turbines already operate. A further 102 have either been approved or are under construction, and 256 more are yet to be determined.
A demonstration is expected at Highland Council headquarters prior to today’s meeting, which will convene at about 11am following a visit to the site at Moy.