Fears over bigger wind turbines at Golticlay: 'They are going to be seen from most of Caithness'
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A Caithness woman has voiced her anger at the prospect of a "massive" increase in a wind farm that will dominate the skyline close to her home.
Jo Bowd is already worried about the visual impact of the Golticlay project, approved two years ago and planned for a site directly across from her cottage at Roster, north of Lybster.
Now she is dismayed to find that the developer, RWE Renewables UK Onshore Wind, is seeking to increase the maximum blade-tip height of the 19 consented turbines from 130 to 200 metres.
That would make them only 30m shorter than the Rumster transmitter which towers over the surrounding landscape.
The proposed increase in turbine size is outlined in a scoping report lodged with Highland Council's planning service. The document also shows that RWE is proposing a longer operational period for the wind farm of 35 years, as opposed to 25 years for the consented development.
Miss Bowd (69) said this week: “From our house you can see the Rumster mast right across, and they are going to be 30 metres short of the top of the Rumster mast. That's huge.
"These turbines are going to be seen from most of Caithness. They are going to be massive."
Miss Bowd's cottage is located between the existing Camster and Burn of Whilk wind farms and she fears being surrounded by turbines.
"They are all the way round, and they're starting on Camster II next," she said.
“Highland Council was against the original proposal but it was discounted. People go on about democracy in Scotland. There is no democracy in Scotland – it's a dictatorship.
"Unless we're in the central belt, we don't count, basically."
Highland Council objected to Golticlay in September 2017, saying it would have "a significantly detrimental visual impact on the Caithness landscape". A public inquiry was held in October the following year.
The application was granted in March 2021, having been dealt with by Scottish ministers under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 relating to onshore developments above 50 megawatts. It was originally planned by E.On and is now being taken forward by RWE Renewables.
Miss Bowd was also frustrated to find that she is unable to comment on the new proposals via the Highland Council website. The relevant page says "comments may not be submitted at this time", adding: "The council will not be approving or refusing the proposal, so comments are not invited."
Miss Bowd said: "There were over 200 objections to the original wind farm. These turbines are even taller. They were bad enough before.
“If they built wind farms where the energy is needed, they wouldn't need all this infrastructure to feed it all over the country. But they don't do that.
“Caithness produces 1000 per cent of the energy that Caithness uses. That's ridiculous. We've got more than our fair share of wind farms.”
She suspects the new proposals may have gone unnoticed by some who objected to the original project.
"They've sneaked this one in," Miss Bowd claimed. "I think a lot of people are not aware of it."
Related stories:
Miss Bowd, who is originally from Derbyshire and moved to Caithness about 12 years ago from Pembrokeshire, added: "I was hoping for a nice quiet retirement and now I'm going to be covered by wind farms. That's what my outlook will be for the foreseeable future."
The Rumster transmitter, which is approximately 230m high, was installed in 1965.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: "This is a procedure through the environmental impact assessment regulations to determine what information should go in the environmental assessment. As this is outwith planning legislation there is no opportunity for the public to comment at this point.
"The developer will, however, need to make an application to increase the tip height of turbines – due to the scale of development it will be an application direct to Scottish Government and the council will be a consultee, so any public comments should be directed to the Scottish Government (Energy Consents Unit) once the application is pending consideration. They can also be directed to us and will be considered in our own planning assessment.
"There will be opportunity for comment at the appropriate time."
The scoping report says an increase in tip height and rotor diameter "would substantially increase the energy production per turbine (opening up a number of alternative turbines available to the applicant)".
It adds: "The renewables industry, and in particular turbine technology, has evolved considerably since the application was submitted in 2016. The effects of climate change combined with soaring energy costs as a result of the war in Ukraine have made the need to deploy modern, clean and affordable energy more urgent than ever before."
A spokesperson for RWE said: "Golticlay onshore wind farm submitted its planning application in 2016. However, the renewables industry has changed substantially since then. Wind turbine technology has advanced since the original design in 2016. The turbine dimensions of the consented project are becoming outdated, making them difficult to source. Therefore, in order to keep the project viable, a more flexible design is required which will be sought via a variation to the original planning consent.
"Further environmental assessments are under way and will feed into the variation application that local residents will be able to view once it is submitted later this year.
"It is important to RWE that local opinions are heard and taken on board. As such, RWE is holding a public exhibition on March 15 (2pm to 7pm) at Lybster Bowling Club. A virtual consultation room will also be available online from March 15 for local residents to view at their leisure."
