Conservation charity the John Muir Trust (JMT) has raised concerns at a decision to hold a 'conjoined inquiry' over two separate wind farm applications.

Reporters overseeing two applications for the Limekiln and Drum Hollistan schemes in Caithness have agreed for both Pubic Local Inquiries (PLIs) to be heard together.

However, campaigners have opposed the plans, with the JMT believing each application must be heard separately as the "geography, planning history and potential impacts of the two schemes are quite different".

Helen McDade, Head of Policy for the JMT, said: "One is on the coastline, the other inland. One has already been rejected after a full inquiry; the other is a relatively new application. Highland councillors have objected to both applications, but the council's planning officials supported one but not the other.

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"And although the John Muir Trust has objected to both developments, our concerns over the impact of each of the two schemes on Wild Land Areas are very specific and distinct.

"Worryingly, it is the Trust's observation that, when two developments are considered together in a conjoined inquiry, almost invariably one gets consented and one refused. The danger is that this PLI becomes another ‘beauty contest', rather than a thorough investigation into the merits of the proposals. In this case, most of those expressing a view believe that neither development should be consented.

"Rather than saving money as the Reporters claim, we believe that a conjoined inquiry would become a dog's breakfast and, instead of streamlining the decision-making process, would make it more protracted, complex and costly.

"Clearly, both developers feel that it would be in their best interests to have a joint PLI, but the process is supposed to serve the public interest rather than private interests. We fail to see how a decision that sides with commercial developers – and ignores the range of public, community and conservation concern over a conjoined inquiry – can possibly be in the public interest."

(LM)