ANGRY veterans have vowed to fight proposals to move a memorial to the victims of a World War II air crash to make way for a windfarm.
Plans for the Bad a Cheo turbines scheme at Achkeepster in Caithness were approved by the Scottish Government’s reporter yesterday.
But the civil servant responsible for the decision has sparked outrage by saying that a cairn dedicated to six airmen who died when their Flying Fortress crashed in 1945 should be shifted from a layby on the A9 Inverness-Thurso road.
Reporter Dannie Onn said that the memorial, which includes a plaque showing the location of the nearby crash site, could be re-sited farther along the trunk road. Last night, a spokesman for the Royal British Legion in Thurso, which cares for the memorial, said the group would fight the proposal “tooth and nail”. Landward Caithness councillor Willie Mackay said: “This is hugely disappointing on the reporter’s part. It shows a desperate lack of sensitivity.
“Local people will not be amused.”
And anti-windfarm campaigner Stuart Young, who lives in Caithness, said: “It is astonishing the lengths the government will go to put windfarms in inappropriate places that they will consider such a bizarre solution.”
The turbine proposals for a site near Spittal were originally submitted by RWE Npower Renewables – now known as RWE Innogy – in July 2012 and the application was considered by Highland Council in September last year.
The devices will be 344ft high and the developers claim they could potentially generate a total of 32.5MW. In his report, Mr Onn said the windfarm project was not contrary to the development plan.
Referring to the memorial, he said: “The crash site itself is a monument and the memorial a guide to it.
“The significance of the location of the memorial is that it allows those who care the opportunity to appreciate the location of the landscape of the crash site.
“The sense of desolation and openness would be seriously compromised by further turbines near the memorial, particularly as the southernmost turbines proposed would encroach on the views toward the crash site from the memorial.”
But he adds: “I consider that this is of such importance that it justifies requiring the memorial to be re-sited and adjusted as a condition of the permission.
“I note that there are other locations along the A9 which might be suitable and am content that this could be left to the parties to agree the detail.”
No one from RWE Innogy was available for comment yesterday.
Council planners recommended approval for the scheme but it was turned down on the casting vote of the north planning committee’s chairwoman, Councillor Isobel McCallum, after members were split six votes to six.
The plans attracted 23 letters of objections – including one from the RSPB – and eight in support.
The RSPB said it had concerns over the cumulative impact of windfarms in the area on populations of whooper swans and greylag geese.