Shutting a Highland Perthshire road will effectively “close down” businesses and make residents’ lives a misery for six months, it has been claimed.
SSE Renewables will soon begin remedial work on the A822 near Dunkeld, meaning its closure at Ladywell, just off the A9, and diversions along the narrow Inver road until near the end of the year.
The company needs to improve the route the back road between Dunkeld and Crieff to allow passage of long vehicles servicing the massive Griffin wind farm in the nearby hills.
Perth and Kinross Council gave permission because the scheme will clear up an accident blackspot at no cost to the authority.
However, locals, already furious the wind farm was given the green light following a lengthy planning battle, claim the cost to their lives will be profound.
John Bryce, who owns a biomass business a few miles up the A822 at Trochry, said, “The proposal would effectively close us down because access is only from the east, from Dunkeld.
“Although consideration has been given to all statutory bodies, there has been no consideration to the severe inconvenience, disruption and financial loss to local businesses.”
He also said the alternative route, along which SSE said it will create passing places, is unsuitable for the increased volume of traffic expected.
“The reporter at the public local inquiry (into the Griffin wind farm) found no reason to dispute a 25 times increase in HGVs and that would be an absolute minimum,” he said.
Building work on the £200 million Griffin complex’s 68 turbines will begin early next year, eventually leading to the creation of Scotland’s third-largest wind farm.
Road re-alignment is required to get the 125-metre turbine blades to the site near Aberfeldy, while the Ladywell Bridge also needs lowered to allow construction vehicles through.
Jill Wilson of the Amulree and Strathbraan Wind Farms Action Group, said, “What is really concerning the local community is no one really knows the full implications of what is proposed.
“We think it will shut the Ladywell Bridge for six months but we don’t know because there is no information about that.
“The local community have stated for the last seven years the A822 is unsuitable for this level of wind farm traffic and this simply shows we were right.”
Brian McNaughton, of Perth and Kinross Council roads department, said, “The A822 between Ladywell and the A826 junction (where construction traffic would turn off) takes 700 vehicles each way each day and that’s tiny for an A-class road.
“This solves two problems taking away a bridge with low head room and removing a retaining wall in an extremely poor condition…It’s continually being clipped by vehicles.
“The bottom line is we’re being presented with a scheme of great benefit to the road network in general at no cost to the council.”