CONTROVERSIAL plans for a hydro scheme that could have impacted a Perthshire beauty spot have been refused by councillors.
Gilkes Energy were seeking permission to modify an approved hydro generation scheme located at the River Braan in Trochry.
However, members of Perth and Kinross Council’s development management committee rejected the proposals due to fears they would have a negative visual and recreational impact on the site.
The beauty spot was immortalised on canvas by 19th-Century Pre-Raphaelite painter Sir John Everett Millais, who painted the view upstream from Rumbling Bridge in an iconic image.
Council officers had noted that the area had “high recreational value and the location at the top of the falls is popular with swimmers and those having picnics”.
