A planning application for a small wind farm in the countryside near Falkland has been approved by councillors in the face of opposition from the local community council and a statement from council officials that the scheme is “clearly contrary” to the Fife-wide ASH consultancy report on turbine location.
Members of Fife Council’s north-east area committee voted eight to five to pass the plan from Robert Balfour, of Balbirnie Home Farm, Freuchie, for three 20-metre turbines at Pitillock Farm.
In a report to the committee, planner Robert Stirling said the site lies on higher ground about 2km south of Freuchie, is on the edge of a cultivated field, and would be just within the boundary of the Lomond Hills Regional Park in a designated Area of Great Landscape Value.
The official said an agent had advised the turbines will provide electricity to the farm to reduce the carbon footprint, with a proportion being sold back to the grid, and there would be a generating capacity of 45kw.
He said there would be no impact on residential amenity, and the proposed installation is in-keeping with the scale of the nearby wooded areas when seen from a distance.
He also said the turbines would be only partially visible from the public road, and the size, scale and position of the wind turbines would sit discretely within this rural landscape and would not create an overbearing impact on the surrounding area. Views of the turbines, downhill from the popular Lomond Hills walks, will not be prominent, and it is not considered that the proposal would adversely affect the visual amenity of the area generally.
Mr Stirling also said, however, the ASH report (Identifying Areas Of Search For Groupings Of Wind Turbines In Fife) identifies the site is within a broad area of search where it is considered a development of between one and five turbines at a height of up to 50 metres may result in “significant or adverse effects on the landscape.”
In addition, he said Scottish Natural Heritage’s Fife Landscape Character Assessment (1999) identifies the area more specifically as upland slopes, which are sensitive to significant effects upon the landscape character from all the potential wind farm scenarios.
“The ASH report concludes in that section that there are no areas that have the capacity to accommodate wind farm development without significant effects upon landscape character,” he said.
In its letter of opposition, Freuchie Community Council said no justification had been made for the proposal other than that Fife Council encourages and supports renewable energy, and that the applicant is embarking on a programme of reducing carbon emissions.
It said no indication has been given regarding future electrical energy use at Pitillock, how much would be exported to the grid, and how much would still need to be imported due to the vagaries of wind.
The community council said the location is very prominent from the north, and while montages show the turbines blending in with the background of trees, this may not be the reality.
Photo courtesy of Stewart Lloyd-Jones.