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Fuel project would benefit birds

Fuel project would benefit birds

Vegetation from a Highland marshland nature reserve could be turned into fuel briquettes as part of a pioneering project to help benefit wading birds.

Jonathan Walker, of Perthshire environmental consultants AMW Arboreal, wants to turn rushes, reeds and willow scrub at the RSPB Insh Marshes nature reserve into biomass fuel.

He has applied to the Cairngorms National Park Authority for planning permission to set up a temporary biomass processing plant inside two shipping containers at a disused gravel pit near Kingussie.

The proposed five-month pilot research is the first of its kind in Scotland and would be funded by the UK Government Department of Energy and Climate Change who are studying its carbon footprint.

The scheme is aimed at increasing the availability of bioenergy and addressing the challenges of marsh management.

Mr Walker said the plant would generate its own power from byproducts of the process and could provide a new source of income for farmers plagued by rushes.

Previously, the marshland material was composted after being collected.

A report set to go before the park authority’s planning committee on Friday recommends the members approve the new development.

CNPA Ecology Adviser David Hetherington states in the report: “This project will contribute to the more efficient management of grassland and wetland habitats in and around the Insh Marshes.

“Badenoch and Strathspey is the most important area on the UK mainland for breeding farmland waders and this application would help to maximise the conservation benefit for breeding waders.” Local resident John Barton of Drumguish, near Kingussie, has objected to the plans on several ground including believing the project is a precursor for a larger development and claiming the location is inappropriate and the process will produce fumes.

None of the statutory consultees has objected, including Highland Council’s environmental health department. CNPA planning officer Fiona Murphy states: “The siting of shipping containers and other temporary units and facilities would not normally accord with the high standards of design that have been adopted in the national park.

“However, in this particular instance there are mitigating factors insofar as the structures will be generally concealed from view and will be removed after a short period of time.”

She recommends committee members give the project the go-ahead.