Allowing the developers who want to build two wind turbines at Dundee”s port to brief the committee which will determine the planning application would be seen as giving them an unfair advantage over the objectors, according to a city councillor.
Fraser Macpherson has called for the briefing to be abandoned as he believes it would compromise the impartiality of the process.
Forth Energy said they intend to submit a planning application to the council for two turbines up to 127 metres high.
The proposal has provoked a storm of protest from many members of the public and led to the creation of a campaign group to oppose the plan.
Councillor Rod Wallace, convener of the development quality committee which will determine the application, told councillors he had asked city development director Mike Galloway to arrange a pre-application meeting with the developers so that the elected members could get information about a complicated subject which they had only been able to read about in the press.
He stressed that no councillor should give any clue at the meeting which would indicate whether they had a view for or against the proposal.
However, Mr Macpherson called on council chief executive David Dorward to prevent the meeting being held, adding, “I believe that, if this briefing takes place, the impartiality of the process is compromised.
‘Normal course'”In the normal course of events any applicant gets the opportunity to speak as a deputation to committee, and no more than that. There is absolutely no reason why this should be altered in this case.”
Mr Macpherson said the briefing would be seen by the public as the council affording Forth Energy an unfair advantage over objectors and should, therefore, not take place.
He said that, even if the briefing went ahead, he would not attend for the reasons he had stated.
Mr Wallace said he did not agree with the points raised by Mr Macpherson and hoped the briefing would be held.
“On the basis of the public reaction we have seen in the media this is likely to be the most controversial and contentious application we have considered for some time,” he said.Technical input”I want the members of the committee to be able to take a balanced view and that will require some technical input from the applicant.
“There is a precedent for this in Dundee. We had the developer in to give us a briefing about the Overgate centre when that was coming up as a planning application.”
Mr Dorward said he had received Mr Macpherson’s request, was looking into it and would respond as soon as possible.