One community - One voice

These developments include five existing wind farms (Dorenell, Kildrummy, Clashindarroch, Upper Wheedlemont Farm, and Cairnmore); three consented wind farms (Clashindarroch II, Corrunich, and Garbet); two application wind farms (Craig Watch, and Clashindarroch Extension); and two scoping wind farms (Dorenell Extension, and Glenfiddich). All combined, potentially forming the largest onshore wind array in the UK.  If fully consented, this would represent in total approximately 600MW of installed generating power from 200+ turbines.

As a local community group and as a community, we fully support the national drive towards a net zero carbon economy, but believe that the area has already contributed significantly by hosting the numerous wind turbines already in place. It is argued that the cumulative impact of these developments on the landscape, lived experience, and cultural heritage of the Cabrach and Upper Deveron Valley threatens an irreversible change to the area, and if the local voices are not listened to the viability of the community is seriously threatened in terms of being. able to live, work and visit the Cabrach.

Local council planners appear to be powerless to control the over proliferation of wind farms. Due to the Scottish Government’s decision to centralise the determination of planning permission for large renewable energy projects through the Energy Consents Unit (ECU), local authority planners can only comment as statutory consultees, but the decisions are made in Edinburgh by the ECU. The officials who make these decisions appear to have little or no knowledge of the area and are focusing narrowly on the national policy to boost renewable energy capacity, even if it means that some areas with smaller communities, such as the Cabrach and Upper Deveron Valley,  have been singled out by developers as easy targets.

The government’s National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) provides a strong endorsement for the expansion of onshore wind energy, but it also advocates the need for local voices to be heard as part of a “Just Transition”. There is little evidence that in practice these voices are indeed being heard.