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On 17th June 2009 a meeting of Fife Council’s East Fife planning committee rejected the application by Energie Kontor to build a wind farm at Gathercaulds.
Statement by CADEAP Chairman Graham Lang:
Gathercauld Wind Farm: Application refused
We have waited a long time for today to come but it has been worth the wait.
The Area Committee are to be praised for their decision to refuse the wind farm development at Gathercauld near Ceres which showed a clear understanding of the policy issues involved and is also a vote for common sense and local democracy.
EnergieKontor’s application failed quite simply because it did not meet the criteria set out in the Development Plan and there are no material considerations to outweigh that. In general terms the committee quite rightly decided that its adverse impact on the AGLV or, as it is to be known the Special Landscape Area of Ceres and Tarvit, and its significant impact on the residential amenity of many ordinary folk was unacceptable.
I am critical of the officer’s report which is skewed, full of errors and omissions and reflects poorly on the quality of work coming out of Development Services. Members would right to be sceptical of reports that are put in front them if this is the standard.
The opportunistic EnergieKontor application and the furore that has surrounded it for three years does nothing for the promotion of renewable energy.
I would like to thank our professional advisors on planning, landscape, noise and geology for their commitment and advice since this wind farm was first proposed in March 2006. I am also extremely grateful to those in the community who have given their support in cash and in kind over the same period and to everyone who objected to this inappropriate development.
Finally I would express my appreciation to the journalists on the Courier and the Fife Herald who have certainly given us a fair crack of the whip.
Graham Lang 17.06.09
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