A flying squad of protesters have vowed to campaign outside every event a windfarm company is holding in Moray.
Vento Ludens has tabled fresh proposals to install a dozen turbines on 400ft masts at Brown Muir, south of Elgin.
The energy firm is hosting five public open days across the region during the next fortnight – and angry campaigners have pledged to demonstrate at all of them.
Speaking outside the first event at Lhanbryde Community Centre last night, protester Derek Ross said: “These turbines would be three times taller than Elgin Cathedral.
“Vento Ludens claim it has reduced how noticeable they will be, but how can you hide a 400ft-tall turbine that’s sat on an 800ft-high hill?
“None of us really want to have to be protesting like this, but we can’t just allow this company to ride roughshod over the wishes of the community.”
A spokeswoman for the developer insisted last night that many of the people who attended yesterday’s presentation were surprised by how much work had been done to try to make the scheme acceptable to locals.
Vento Ludens now wants to instal 12 turbines after withdrawing proposals for 19 masts on the same site last year.
The earlier scheme generated 2,200 objections.
Retired helicopter pilot Chris Davis, of Orton, near Rothes, was also involved in yesterday’s protest.
Mr Davis, who has a degree in environmental studies, said: “Companies such as Vento Ludens cynically use the word farm when describing these things as windfarms.
“Yet despite what’s pretended, they have nothing to do with green energy.
“The reality is that they are just power stations which don’t even work very well.”
Retired landscape photographer George Herraghty, who lives in Lhanbryde, said: “As a mountaineer, I think it’s a tragedy what we’re doing to our countryside.
“There’s all this talk about attracting more tourists to Moray, but people simply won’t come if these developments are allowed to continue.”
However, the team behind the proposals was keen to stress how different the new scheme was to the original plan.
Meg Deasley is the community liaison manager for Docherty Consulting, which is being employed by Vento Ludens to host the open days.
She said: “We’ve had a steady flow of people coming here today and I think a number of them have been surprised at just how much improvement there is regarding visibility.
“There has been a complete redesign, particularly in relation to how noticeable the turbines will be from the north and west.
“We’ve also removed five of the planned turbines from the ridge closest to Elgin, which was the source of much of the opposition originally.
“There will always be people who either don’t like windfarms or who don’t want them in their area.
“However, we have genuinely listened to the feedback and have tried to reflect that in the new design.
“That’s why we want people to come along, see our proposals and then make up their own minds.”
The fresh Vento Luden proposals will be considered by Moray Council’s planning committee.