A land charity may have to ask the public for more money to continue their legal battle against a giant windfarm south of Inverness.
The Court of Session is currently considering an appeal by Scottish ministers and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) against a decision to reject planning permission for the Stronlairg development in the Monadhliath mountains above Fort Augustus.
A successful judicial review had previously been awarded in favour of the John Muir Trust, which raised concerns about the impact of the 67 turbine plans.
A decision is not expected for a few months – but the trust revealed yesterday that it has lost an appeal to claim a protective expenses order that would have limited its liability for costs in the Inner House of the Court of Session in the event of losing the main appeal.
The charity say they will now have to seek further donations from the public to fund the appeal – depending on the judgement delivered by the courts.
John Muir Trust chief executive Stuart Brooks said: “While we await the decision of this latest appeal, it’s disconcerting that the refusal of a protective expenses order means that in taking on this issue in the public interest, as was noted in the judicial review decision, we will have to continue to ask members of the public to dig deep into their pockets to challenge a decision that was ruled unlawful.”
However, SSE backed the court’s decision and defended their plans for Stronelairg.
A spokeswoman for company said: “”We agree with the court’s decision not to grant a protective expenses order to the John Muir Trust.
“We believe the consent decision for Stronelairg was lawful. It is a carefully designed project sited on degraded peatland with the carbon payback estimated to be around 16 months.
“It would sit in a natural upland bowl, would not be seen from the Great Glen’s key tourist routes, and would be entirely invisible from Loch Ness. Stronelairg would utilise extensive existing infrastructure at our Glendoe hydro scheme.
“The project would bring significant benefits to the local and wider economy.”