Scotland’s largest conservation charity is urging its members help fight a city-sized windfarm to be built in the Highlands.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) is contacting its 320,000 members to highlight the John Muir Trust’s (JMT) legal campaign to stop construction of the 67-turbine development in the hills above Loch Ness at Stronelairg, near Fort Augustus.
The case is due to be heard in the Court of Session next month and the JMT’s request for its costs to be capped has been refused, which means it could be liable for the Government’s and SSE Renewable’s costs if the legal action is unsuccessful.
And the NTS is now contacting its members by e-mail and social media asking them to write to Ministers and MSPs and for personal donations to the JMT’s legal fund.
NTS chief executive, Kate Mavor, today said: “Although the proposed windfarm is not directly adjacent to any of our properties, it will be visible from large swathes of the Cairngorms National Park and we are supporting this campaign on principle.
“We are not opposed to renewable energy developments by any means, so long as they are suitably located, are proportionate and subject to public scrutiny.
“We think there are serious questions to be answered about the way the Stronelairg windfarm was approved and what it might mean for Scotland’s wild lands.”
The trust’s director of conservation services and projects, Terry Levinthal, pointed out that the turbines on Garrogie Estate, which would be up to 440ft tall, would cover an area the size of Inverness within the Monadhliath Mountains, next to a Special Area of Conservation.
He said: “We find it particularly disturbing that the government’s own agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, and the Cairngorms National Park Authority both objected to the development yet their protests were ignored.”
He added: “Given the precedent this enormous windfarm may set, the implications for the conservation of wild land are deeply concerning.”
A spokeswoman for SSE Renewables said: “We are confident in the strength and viability of the Stronelairg proposal and will continue to respond to the legal challenge through the appropriate process.”
And a Scottish Government spokesman said: “Ministers are aware of the John Muir Trust’s stated intention to judicially review the decision and will await the outcome of any such review, should it go ahead.”