Welsh firm West Coast Energy first submitted plans for a 10-turbine windfarm at Cairnborrow, near Huntly, in late 2010.
The firm has teamed up with the Huntly Development Trust and local farmer and landowner Margo Wordie to deliver the scheme, eventually axeing one turbine from the plans in response to public feedback.
The windfarm is planned for a site about three miles north-west of Huntly and four miles south of Keith.
Planning chiefs have recommended the scheme should be rejected, given the significant impact it would have on the landscape and due to an objection from the MoD.
They also raise concerns about the layout of the turbines and the proximity of 18 other large-scale schemes.
In a report for members of the Marr area committee, the infrastructure services’ landscape planning team warn the windfarm would be built in a plateau of low rolling hills with the “strong likelihood” of being seen as “very large for the landscape character of their location”.
The team also raise concern the structures would be seen from 18 miles away and could be seen as “dominant and overbearing”.
Head of planning and building standards Robert Gray said it was worth considering the cumulative impact of 18 other commercial-scale wind energy within a 12 to 22 miles of Cairnborrow.
In particular, he pointed to the 59-turbine windfarm approved by the Scottish Government for a site at Dornell, on the Glenfiddich Estate, as well as the nearby Edintore scheme, which is currently under appeal.
Mr Gray tells councillors in his report that, although the site is not “inherently unsuitable” for wind energy development, efforts should be made to reduce its impact on the landscape.
