"Wind rush" overwhelms Scottish planning authorities

A second Scottish local authority has called for a temporary halt on wind farm applications following an onslaught of inappropriate bids.

Causeymire Windfarm, Scotland. CC Image courtesy of Shandchem on Flickr

Fife Council claim developers are ignoring guidelines on approved sites and are swamping planners with "opportunistic" applications.

Fife Council leader Alex Rowley said: "The pressure being put on our planners is coming from the sheer number of wind turbine applications that are currently being submitted across all parts of Fife.

"We have already pinpointed areas of search across the kingdom following extensive consultations where turbines could be potentially sited. However, developers are simply ignoring these when making applications which, in turn, is making life more complex for our planning teams."

Fife's move follows Aberdeenshire Council earlier this year who asked for a six-month moratorium after becoming overwhelmed by a "wind rush" from developers. With a potential five-year gap between the initial planning application and the final decision underlies the importance of getting planning applications done well.

FIND has a number of maps, documents and spatial datasets that can be used to help wind farm site assessment, contribute to Environmental Impact Assessment and planning applications. Click on the below links to find out more:

• Detailed mapping / OS MasterMap (1:1250) – View, print and data export 
• Location maps (1:10000 – 1:250 000) – View, print and export 
• Aerial Photography – (from 8cm resolution) - View and download 
• Height information (Height contours, Digital Elevation Models, Digital Surface Models, Optimised TIN Model) 
• UK Land Registry title registers, titles plans, lease documents and SIM searches