Plans for a windfarm on a Moray estate have been approved, despite more than 600 objections.
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing gave the go-ahead to Infinergy’s £250million project at Dorenell, near Cabrach, yesterday.
The 59-turbine windfarm on the Glenfiddich Estate will have the capacity to power 84,000 homes through the national grid and generate at least £93million for the Scottish economy over five years.
The announcement was welcomed by locals hoping to regenerate the remote Cabrach area. Objectors criticised the scheme, concerned that the development would scar the landscape and disturb wildlife.
Moray Council objected to the scheme because it went against the local plan, prompting a public inquiry last year.
The Scottish Government received 1,261 public representations – 646 of which were objections.
However, a letter confirming approval of the application claims the wildlife issues can be mitigated and are “outweighed by the benefits” of the development.
About 75 jobs will be created during the windfarm’s construction and there will be further maintenance jobs once it is operational.
Infinergy will also build new housing and a visitor centre on the Glenfiddich Estate. A community benefit fund worth £350,000 a year will support projects in the Cabrach, Dufftown, Glenrinnes and Glenlivet areas.
Infinergy chief executive officer Charles Sandham said: “We are delighted that the Scottish Government has given consent to Dorenell windfarm following the public inquiry process.
“I would like to express our gratitude to the hundreds of individuals and businesses who wrote letters of support and worked on behalf of the development.”
He said the company recognised the significance of the project to the Cabrach, which has suffered population decline in recent years.
“We want to make sure the Dufftown area, but in particular Cabrach, is put back on the map as a successful and thriving community,” Mr Sandham added.
Mr Ewing said: “Once up and running, the Dorenell windfarm will produce enough green electricity to power double the number of homes in Moray, creating new jobs and cutting emissions.
“The development will provide a new visitor centre and stimulate wider regeneration and help protect the environment through fisheries and habitat-management plans.”
Speyside-Glenlivet councillor Mike McConachie said the announcement was “brilliant news”. “It will be a big boost to bed and breakfasts in Dufftown as well,” he said. “Jobs have been badly required in the area.”
Debbie Smith, chairwoman of Cabrach Community Enterprise, which was set up to breathe new life into the parish, also welcomed the announcement.
“It has been a long time coming,” she said.
“It’s good news for the community, with the benefits that they say they are going to give the area. We will have to hold another meeting to see how it’s all going to work out.”
Martin Sheed, secretary of the community enterprise company, said the approval gave hope that Cabrach Primary School, which was closed by Moray Council in April, could be reopened in the future.
He said: “A lot of the redevelopment has been hinged on the windfarm. There’s always the possibility that the school could reopen, but these things take time. We are looking at about 2018 before the windfarm is actually producing electricity.”
Meanwhile, objectors spoke of their disappointment last night.
Robert McHugh, who chaired the Stop Dorenell Wind Farm campaign group, said the decision was “not surprising”.
“I have read through the decision,” he said. “They are just following procedure. I’m really not interested any more. Local folk don’t get a look-in and the politicians are just after their own ends.”
A spokesman for Moray Council said: “The local authority lodged what it believed to be a credible submission to the public inquiry which was prompted by the council’s committee decision to object to the application.
“Moray Council objected to the application on the grounds that the proposal will be located in an area which conflicts with the council’s strategy for windfarm location and that there was insufficient justification for overriding this on the basis of the cumulative visual impact created by the proposed development.
“The council was joined in its position by the Cairngorms National Park Authority, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and 646 individual objectors. There are currently no plans by the council to appeal the decision.”
Bird expert Roy Dennis has warned that the development could disturb golden eagles in the area.
He said: “Four tagged eagles visited Glenfiddich, demonstrating the importance of the area to Scotland’s eagles, from as far away as Caithness. It’s a key location and should be reoccupied by breeding golden eagles.”
Infinergy said it may be “a number of years” before the turbines generate electricity because of upgrades required on the national grid.
The Dorenell project will be the UK’s fifth-largest windfarm to win consent, behind Whitelee, Clyde, Harestanes and Crystal Rigg.
Scottish ministers have also given the go-ahead to a controversial extension to a Lewis windfarm that will provide power for 9,000 homes.
The six turbines will add another 21MW to the existing Muaitheabal scheme on Eisgein Estate.
The man behind the project, estate owner Nick Oppenheim, has given the community six turbines, which will net them about £1million a year.
He will also pay a proportion of the revenue generated to the Western Isles Development Trust to benefit people throughout the isles. The windfarm will provide about 64 full-time jobs.