Scottish Borders Council withdraws opposition to wind farm after almost a decade

Scottish Borders Council is set to withdraw its opposition to a 12-turbine wind farm after almost a decade after first rejecting the project.

The local authority originally objected to the scheme at Cloich Forest, near the village of Eddleston, in 2014.

The wind farm was later approved by the Scottish government but work never started.

Now revised plans have been submitted and the council is set to raise no objections the second time around.

The council had originally objected to the application over its negative impact on the landscape.

Concerns still remain about the "significant landscape and visual impacts" on the area.

However, a report to members of the council's Planning and Building Standards Committee, meeting on Monday, April 24, highlights National Planning Framework reforms - which were approved this year - which means they have to give "significant weight" to a scheme's contribution to meeting renewable energy targets.

It concludes that the benefits outweighed the negatives and the local authority should not oppose the project this time around.

A report to the committee says: "Although the development may only provide a modest contribution to renewable targets this is still a valuable contribution to a greater weight to be placed on the environmental benefits of generating renewable energy at this site."

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