Call for protection from ‘inappropriate windfarms’

The Scottish Government has been urged to draw up a national planning policy to protect the countryside from “inappropriate” windfarms.

The Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCoS) issued the plea after a local authority rejected three applications for turbines to be installed in its area.

David Gibson, chief officer for the MCoS, hit out at First Minister Alex Salmond’s “seeming willingness to allow power companies to industrialise our landscapes by building vast windfarms in highly inappropriate settings.”

Mr Gibson said: “We are not opposed to renewables we simply recognise that our wild lands and open spaces are fundamental to Scotland’s character and identity.”

He said Highland Council had rejected three applications at Dalnessie, Glenmorie and Clach Liath in the last few days.

The MCoS chief officer added: “It is time the Scottish Government started listening and changed its direction.”

Mr Gibson said his organisation had repeatedly urged the SNP administration to act on the issue but claimed “it misses every opportunity and simply appears weak in its failure to care for the Scottish countryside.”