Highland Council to legally challenge Strath Oykel Wind Farm approval
Highland Council is to mount a legal challenge to the Scottish Government's controversial decision to grant planning permission for Strath Oykel Wind Farm.
Councillors unanimously agreed at a private meeting yesterday to seek a judicial review of the approval given to the controversial wind farm.
Wind farm campaigners have welcomed the move, which comes after the local authority took legal advice.
Energiekontor’s proposal to erect an 11-turbine, 73MW wind farm on land in Strath Oykel forest attracted 231 public objections and was opposed by Highland Council.
Councillors stood by their decision when asked to reconsider the application following the introduction of the new planning policy, National Planning Framework 4.
The turbines would be 200m high, and the development would also include a 5MW battery electricity storage system and an on-site 132kV substation.
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Objectors were concerned about the risk of the development to wildlife, and particularly Atlantic salmon and pearl mussels in the River Oykel, a Special Area of Conservation.
The authority’s objection triggered a public inquiry which was held in October 2023, and the findings of the planning reporters were published in February 2024.
The reporters recommended that the scheme be refused, as it would have “significant adverse and residential amenity effects” on people living in the nearby villages of Rosehall, Brae, Doune and Altass.
However, in January this year, the Scottish Government overruled the reporters’ recommendations and gave the go-ahead.
Following the decision, Highland Council said it was considering a judicial review. Officials sought legal advice from James Findlay KC, who represented the council at the public inquiry into the wind farm.
Judicial review is a legal process that allows a person or organisation to challenge a decision made by a public body.
There is a time limit of three months from the date of the decision to start a judicial review.
The process involves applying for judicial review by petition to the Outer House of the Court of Session - Scotland’s highest civil court.
If the petition is successful and the judicial review goes ahead, a judge will consider the legality of the planning decision, focusing on the process.
Danish businessman and Sutherland landowner Anders Holch-Povlsen launched an ultimately unsuccessful judicial review of Highland Council’s decision to give the green light to the Sutherland Spaceport.
Highland Council’s chief legal and corporate governance officer, Stewart Fraser, presented a paper on the Strath Oykel wind farm to councillors in private yesterday.
One councillor said afterwards that: “The decision to seek a judicial review was unanimously approved and must now be lodged before April 7. The council will fund the judicial review.”
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A spokesperson for campaign group NORoS (No Ring of Steel - Kyle of Sutherland) said: “We are delighted and grateful to Highland councillors for deciding to challenge the Strath Oykel Wind Farm decision through a judicial review.
“Our committee and supporters have fought against this inappropriately sized and sited development since it first entered the scoping stage of planning in 2021.”
