Watten drop-in session before work starts on 10-turbine Camster II Wind Farm
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Work on a new wind farm in Caithness is set to get under way next month – more than two-and-a-half years after the development was rejected by Highland Council because of its visual impact.
Renewable energy company RWE was given the go-ahead for its Camster II Wind Farm, located between Wick and Watten, after an appeal to the Scottish Government was upheld.
In a newsletter delivered this week to local householders, the company says work on the site – some 2000 metres north-west of Tannach Hill – is likely to start in early September.
A drop-in session is taking place on Wednesday, August 16, in Watten village hall, and members of the project team say they would welcome the opportunity to answer questions. The session will run from 2pm to 7pm.
The 10-turbine development will be located near RWE's existing Camster Wind Farm which consists of 25 turbines. When completed, the new wind farm will be capable of producing up to 36MW of electricity, while £180,000 a year will be available in community benefit funding.
RWE's planning application for Camster II was turned down by Highland Council in January 2021, with the local authority ruling that the wind farm “would have a significantly detrimental visual impact”. The company appealed to the Scottish Government's Planning and Environmental Appeals Division and consent was granted in July that year.
The council had warned that Camster II would be within "close proximity" to existing wind farms, "creating a substantial array of turbines".
Keith Bray, the reporter appointed by Scottish ministers, found that the development would "have a logical scale in relation to the landscape and would not be out of scale with the existing turbines".
In his 43-page appeal decision notice, Mr Bray said that in his view "the level of impact arising would not amount to a development which should be considered unacceptable" in terms of the Highland-wide Local Development Plan.
In the newsletter sent to residents, RWE states: "As you may know, since receiving planning consent in July 2021 we have been working hard to optimise the project and finalise all the agreements needed to begin construction. We are close to finalising these agreements and, as such, construction of the initial site tracks and construction compound can shortly begin.
"Therefore we are planning to start on site in early September."
The newsletter points out that Camster Wind Farm has a community fund administered by Foundation Scotland, with all funding decisions made by a local panel. It says Camster II, "once operational, will bring with it further community funding".
At the time it lodged its appeal, RWE Renewables said it remained convinced that the Camster II site was a suitable location for a wind farm and that it would deliver benefits to the area.
Highland Council had argued that Camster II would be close to the Camster/Wathegar/Wathegar 2 and Achairn developments, "filling in an area currently left open" and "changing the nature of this existing rural landscape to one which is characterised by wind farm development”.
It said this cumulative view “would be experienced in close proximity and on a daily basis by residents who live in and around the rural communities of Watten and rural areas including Newton Row, Tannach and Badlibster where the cumulative impact of wind energy development would significantly impact on the established level of amenity and the rural setting”.
In his report, Mr Bray noted that "at the heart of this appeal is a difference of opinion on the acceptability of visual impact".
