Graham + Sibbald’s Planning Team, acting for a local group – SEAG – was successful in persuading a Scottish Government Reporter to reject the Standingfaulds wind farm proposal.

The proposal would have seen the erection of 8 turbines, each over 100m high near Muthil, which would have been clearly visible in some of the key, iconic “high camera” panoramic views of the Ryder Cup course at the event scheduled for broadcast throughout the World in 2014.

Ian Kelly, Head of Planning at Graham + Sibbald, stated that this was a model wind farm objection project, with the local client group – SEAG – commissioning a full assessment at the earliest possible stage, leading to submissions and presentations to Perth and Kinross Council, followed by submissions to the appeal process.

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This early engagement meant that the local group and the Gleneagles Hotel were able to co-operate fully and present a united front at the appeal in support of the refusal of planning permission by the Council.

The appeal result, issued on 15th December, reinforced the clear planning policy position that wind farms should only be approved for appropriate sites. 

Ian also stated that being able to work alongside the Gleneagles Hotel team raised the overall seriousness of the issues involved.

Bill Thomson, Chair of SEAG, commented that they were delighted with the quality of advice from Graham + Sibbald and with the way that they organised the whole project team including landscape sub-consultants Mark Steele.

He continued that, after two years of stress and worry for the local objectors, the result was everything that they could have hoped for. We would not hesitate to recommend the Graham + Sibbald’s Planning Team.

(GK)