A famous view towards the world’s oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse could be “ruined” by a massive windfarm, campaigners have claimed.
The 200-year-old Bell Rock tower – one of the most iconic structures in the North Sea – would no longer stand in splendid isolation as turbines five times its size would be sited 10 miles off the Angus coast, according to council planners.
Angus Council is due to submit its comments on the development and believes the impact of the proposed 213-turbine megafarm has been “under- stated”.
The local authority now intends to ask Marine Scotland, which makes determinations on offshore windfarms on behalf of Scottish ministers, to look deeper into its potential effects.
The lighthouse was built by Robert Stevenson between 1807 and 1810, and has been described as one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World.
It marks the Inchcape Rock, a long and treacherous reef 11 miles off Arbroath which had sunk ships and claimed the lives of sailors for hundreds of years.
David Taylor, a Bell Rock lighthouse expert, said yesterday: “The view of the lighthouse will be ruined.
“It’s really a despoiling act to build this windfarm. I’m absolutely against it.
“The lighthouse is now thought of as a national monument and it really will be dwarfed by these wind turbines.”
A report from Angus Council planning and place director Vivien Smith says: “From land, the Bell Rock lighthouse is the only tall structure in the seaward view and, apart from passing ships, the only light source at night on an otherwise dark horizon.
“It is considered that the impacts upon seascape character have not been fully assessed.”
Inch Cape Offshore Limited was awarded exclusive development rights in 2011 for the site.
It is one of 10 identified by the Crown Estates in Scottish territorial waters as potential windfarm locations.
Neither Historic Scotland nor the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has objected to the proposal and Scottish Natural Heritage has yet to respond.