Thirty-day consultation period for Quanterness wind farm proposals begins

The Scottish Government has begun a 30-day consultation period on Orkney Islands Council’s plans for a wind farm at Quanterness in St Ola.

The planning application for the development was called in by the Scottish Government in March following a request by the council, on the grounds of national importance.

The application will be determined by Scottish Ministers, with the council now a consultee in the process, rather than being the planning authority.

Additional information has been submitted regarding the application which has triggered this consultation period.

The submission of additional information is standard practice where comments have been received during a previous consultation period.

The proposed Quanterness project could see the installation of six turbines up to a maximum height of 149.9m on the site.

The project is part of ‘Orkney’s Community Wind Farm Project’ which has seen the council investigate three sites for potential community owned wind farms in the county — at Quanterness, at Wee Fea in Hoy, and Faray in the North Isles.

If the proposals and sites are found through the planning process to be appropriate and the project goes forward, it could generate significant income and community benefit for Orkney, say Orkney Islands Council.

According to the local authority, all profits would stay in the islands, enabling the council to preserve and enhance key services that local people value and depend upon and providing a foundation for communities to drive transformational projects of their own.

The developments will also allow the council to join other local developers in making a meaningful contribution to a Needs Case for a new interconnector for Orkney, thereby substantially supporting the vital renewable energy industry in Orkney.

Full documentation for the proposal, including additional information on the project supplied to the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) by the Council, has been published on the DPEA website.

On accessing the website, enter the case reference CIN-ORK-001 in the ‘Search by case reference:’ box to find all documents relating to this case.

Any person who wishes to make representations to Scottish Ministers should make them in writing by September 25 (quoting reference CIN-ORK-001) to: Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA), 4 The Courtyard, Callendar Business Park, Falkirk, FK1 1XR or by e-mail to: jane.robertson@gov.scot