Lairg Community Council should support wind farms in its area, says chairman
Lairg Community Council should continue to have a supportive stance towards wind farm development in its area because of the community benefit generated, its chairman has said.
Iain Thomson said that there might be a perception that the Lairg area had a greater number of turbines than other communities, but that was not the case.
There are currently some 41 turbines in the area with the potential for a further 129.
Mr Thomson made the comments during his chairman's report at the group's annual general meeting in Lairg Community Centre last Wednesday.
He said: "In the past 12 months there has been a renewed interest in wind farm development in the area.
"In the past the community council has been broadly supportive or has taken a neutral stance and I think that stance should be continued.
"There is an opportunity to provide a large and long-term income to the area. And as long as the money is used wisely and we are able to leave a legacy, we should support them.
Mr Thomson, who was reelected as chairman at the meeting, continued: "Someone said to me there is going to be too many turbines in the area, but if all the projects are going to be supported, then there would still be less turbines than there are at Whitelee Wind Farm.
"It is more by perception that there are a lot of turbines, but compared to other communities, there are not really."
Whitelee Wind Farm, near Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, has 215 turbines and is the largest onshore wind farm in the UK and the second largest in Europe.
According to Highland Council's wind turbine mapping data, There are currently three operational wind farms in the Lairg area – Achany (19 turbines); Rosehall (19) and Lairg (3). Another development is under construction at Creag Riabhach (22).
Planning consent has been granted to Lairg II Wind Farm (10); Braemore (18); Strath Tirry (4); and Sallachy (9).
Another three wind farms are in the planning pipeline: Achany Extension (20); Meall Buidhe (9), and Garvary (37).
Click here to view the Highland wind turbine mapping.
