The organisers of a public exhibition for a proposed windfarm in Perthshire insist they have been pleased with the response.
More than 100 people attended the event which gave details of the planned Mull Hill windfarm near Crieff.
The original application was submitted in 2003 with a view to building 24 wind turbines. Perth and Kinross Council rejected it, and then the Scottish Government also knocked it back following a public inquiry in 2005.
Force 9 Energy and Abercairney Estates are behind the latest Mull Hill proposal, which would see nine turbines built off the A822 to Dunkeld, north of Crieff, at the gateway to the Sma’ Glen.
The developers claim the windfarm would deliver up to 22.5 megawatts per year, which would be enough to power about 11,300 homes.
A community fund would also be set up which, based on the current proposal, could put over £1.1m into the community over the project’s 25-year lifetime.
The public exhibition in Crieff was attended by councillors, local businesses and residents from the surrounding communities, as well as students from Ardvreck School, who will be studying wind power as part of a project early next year.
Those at the exhibition were able to view a computer-generated simulation. This enabled participants to study viewpoints from their own homes and other focal points.
Of those who completed a questionnaire, and returned it on the day, the energy firm says 57.5% were very supportive or supportive of the proposed Mull Hill windfarm, while only 12.5% were opposed or strongly opposed to it.
Force 9 Energy also claim visitors learnt more about the benefits the proposed windfarm would bring. These are said to include a community fund of up to £45,000 a year, employment opportunities, the ability to provide enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 11,322 homes, and the saving of approximately 25,425 tonnes of carbon dioxide the proposed windfarm would make each year.
Andrew Smith, development manager at Force 9 Energy, said the company was pleased with the turnout.
”We found the event most useful, and we will be reviewing all the feedback we have received from the exhibition,” he said. ”This will help inform the planning application, which we hope to make later this year.”
He added: ”Mull Hill is a scheme of only nine turbines, much smaller than the previously proposed 24-turbine Abercairny Wind Farm application. This results in a number of significant and important differences in that it would not be seen from the north and would not be visible from the Sma’ Glen, which is located beyond the site to the north-east.
”Also, the site benefits from an element of screening by hills in the foreground and is backgrounded by hills, in most views from Strathearn. Unlike the previous application it does not step up and across different landscape character areas, and the turbines are confined to one area.
”Another difference is that it will not connect to the Beauly to Denny line. This is impractical for a proposal of this scale.”
More information on the project is available at mullhillwindfarm.com.