Lawyers for Perth and Kinross Council have admitted it could be “quite some time” before the total costs incurred by a failed attempt to block the Calliacher wind farm project are known.
Scottish ministers delivered the hammer blow to council chiefs and the community in and around Aberfeldy on Wednesday last week.
Having first been proposed in 2004, Calliacher has consistently failed to find favour with councillors and residents, who feel “under siege” from green power development.
An initial 27-turbine scheme was first rejected in 2007, only for Perth-based developer I. & H. Brown to return with a revised 14-turbine plan.
When that was also rejected by the local authority, the developer took its case to Scottish ministers and after a lengthy and expensive public inquiry a reporter granted permission to the wind farm last week.
While that decision was itself a huge disappointment to the council, in addition it now faces being landed with a significant bill to cover I. & H. Brown’s costs.
The sum levied against the council by Scottish ministers for its stubborn opposition to the unpopular green power scheme could be significant.
However, the local authority is in the dark over the exact details of the bill and is awaiting correspondence from the developer’s lawyers before deciding how to respond.
The council does itself have one recourse left, in that it can appeal the award of costs if it believes the sum quoted is too much.
In any event, I. & H. Brown is now free to move ahead with plans that will see 14 turbines, each 300ft high, built on land three miles south of Aberfeldy and to the north of Loch Freuchie.
It will join the Griffin wind farm, permission for which has already been granted on appeal by Scottish ministers, as a major feature of the Highland Perthshire landscape.
The 68-turbine development at Griffin Forest, also near Aberfeldy, was given the green light in January 2008 and works are under way on local roads to enable the creation and servicing of the site.
Reporters for the Scottish Government have repeatedly belittled the value of the scenery and have said the landscape impact of the developments is “acceptable.”
In rejecting the two applications, however, elected members have said they are defending the local landscape and tourism economy, describing Calliachar as “the wrong thing in the wrong place.”
A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council said yesterday, “The council has been successful in the majority of the wind farm appeals it has opposed. Significant resources have, however, been incurred by the council at public inquiries irrespective of the outcome.
“The absence of a clear national framework for wind farms has been a difficulty for both planning authorities and developers and has inevitably contributed to so many proposals being determined through appeals.
“Perth and Kinross Council will, however, continue to assess wind farm proposals based upon their planning merits and not upon the cost of defending a refusal at an inquiry.”
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser, has described the Scottish ministers’ decision as “a disgrace,” condemning the fact “the council tax payers of Perth and Kinross will be faced with a huge bill thanks to the SNP Government, when all that elected councillors were doing was representing local opinion.”