Six Aberdeenshire community councils are united in their opposition to the proposed Hill of Fare Wind Farm.
The massive development would see sixteen turbines of up to 200m erected on the popular landmark by RES*, on land forming part of the 53,000-acre Dunecht Estates.
Banchory, Torphins, Echt & Skene, Crathes & Drumoak, Inchmarlo, Brathens & Glassel and Cluny, Midmar & Monymusk Community Councils responded to the proposal, which emerged three years ago, by conducting a joint survey of their residents’ opinion. This showed that 71% of those who responded were opposed to the development.
After RES held a series of public meetings in an attempt to allay public concerns, a second joint survey showed opposition had increased to 75%, with only 11% in favour.
Since then, the six community councils have been working together to ensure their residents’ voices are heard. They have also engaged closely with the Hill of Fare Wind Farm Information Group (HOFWIG), a community group which has been tirelessly supporting this clear public verdict on the plans.
After the proposal was roundly rejected by three of Aberdeenshire Council’s Area Committees**, the Council voted unanimously to oppose the wind farm, an outcome which triggered a public inquiry.
The serious impact on two important stone circles has also led to a strong objection being lodged by Historic Environment Scotland, a Scottish Government agency.
The public inquiry will be held in Banchory Town Hall between 2 September and 11 September, with the community councils and HOFWIG actively participating.
A spokesperson for the community councils said:
“The Hill of Fare is not only a much-loved, valued and important feature of the Deeside landscape, there are also around ten thousand people living in very close proximity.
“The hill is wildly inappropriate for any such development, but turbines of between 180m and 200m would be completely overbearing, not only for our residents but for communities such as Westhill and Kintore up to fifteen miles away.
“Aside from the almost indescribable impact on the landscape, there are also huge concerns over the threat to private water supplies drawn from the hill. These are already vulnerable and the proposal by the developers to sink massive boreholes, extracting millions of litres during the construction phase, for making concrete and so on, is deeply worrying. Further, the known presence of uranium and radon in the geology of the hill, likely to be disturbed by the blasting proposed, raises the very real possibility of extremely dangerous contamination of these vital supplies.
“We have established there are no viable alternatives, so any loss of supply to the 380 properties taking water from the hill would be disastrous and could lead to the properties being deemed unfit for habitation.
“RES themselves state there would be minimal economic benefit from the proposed windfarm. Further, the windfarm will require the excavation of very significant volumes of peat which casts doubt on the project’s claims of reducing greenhouses gas emissions. The footprint of the massive turbines and associated roads will damage considerable areas of habitat, including the removal of woodland.
“The proposal to locate a wind farm on a very prominent hill in the middle of a densely populated rural area is unparalleled in Scotland, as is having six community councils coming together to urge rejection of it.
“It is quite simply the wrong project in entirely the wrong place and we confidently assert the whole thing would make a mockery of Scottish Government and Aberdeenshire Council planning policies.”
ENDS
*Renewable Energy Systems, headquartered in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire
** Marr Area Committee, Garioch Area Committee and Kincardine & Mearns Area
