Community campaign launched to protect one of Scotland’s last unspoilt landscapes from threat of major energy project.

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A community-led campaign – Keep Kinlochbervie Special – has been launched to protect one of Scotland’s most treasured unspoilt landscapes from a major energy development.

Galileo Empower plans to construct a major windfarm of 18 turbines with a blade tip height of 200m on open land close to the village of Kinlochbervie in Sutherland. The windfarm would be visible from 50 miles away.

The Keep Kinlochbervie Special campaign, backed by residents, community groups and businesses in the area, reflects concern that the wind farm would also require a pylon line of at least 20 miles across unspoilt countryside to connect to the national grid.

The area in Scotland’s far northwest is internationally renowned for its wild and dramatic landscapes, dark skies, stunning coastline, croft land, lochs, moors and hills and is home to some of Scotland’s rarest bird species – including greenshank, great northern diver, ptarmigan, golden eagle, cuckoo, golden plover and skylark.

The Foinaven Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) borders part of the proposed site, as well as a  Special Area of Conservation (SAC), awarded by the European Union.

There are also three SPAs (Special Protection Areas) within 10km of the site – noted for their importance to golden eagles – and NatureScot has indicated that it is likely to submit an objection to the scheme if a full planning application is submitted.

The proposed development site is within a designated Wild Land Area and is surrounded by land accredited as a National Scenic Area or Wild Land Area. The location is entirely within the NorthWest Highlands Geopark, which has UNESCO Global Geopark status due to its geological heritage.

The Galileo Empower plan is likely to require a pylon line to be built across at least 20 miles of unspoilt landscape, to the nearest grid connection point.

Kinlochbervie crofter Susan Black said: “This is totally the wrong place for a development on this scale.

“The turbines would be visible for miles around, including at night, as they will require aviation lighting. The most iconic view in Sutherland, of Foinaven, Arkle and Stack, will now have wind turbines and pylon lines right across it. People come from all over the world to look at this view. It is devastating.”

Ms Black added that the logistics of construction would also have a massive impact on the area: “There would have to be massive road upgrades just to get the turbine blades to the site, probably all the way to Lairg and, worst of all, a vast pylon line stretching for at least 20 miles to connect to the grid at Shin or even further to the east at Dalchork.

“The site itself is a vital nesting site for rare birds and it is class one peat, considered of national importance for carbon storage. The carbon emissions from building on a peat bog would be colossal. It makes no sense at all.

“Kinlochbervie is known for its natural beauty and tranquillity. Wrecking the landscape would destroy the fragile economy and the sustainable tourism businesses that are just starting to gain a foothold here. People are horrified by this scheme and they feel their concerns have been totally ignored.”

Margaret Meek, who has lived in Kinlochbervie for 35 years and is secretary of the Kinlochbervie Community Company, believes that Galileo has already begun controlling the narrative and shutting down opposition to the proposed development: “The consultation events have been abysmal, with Galileo employees not able to answer the most basic questions and what little information they did provide was inaccurate. First they claimed 12 jobs would be created locally, then they said those jobs would be ‘right across the Highlands’ – an area the size of Belgium. They don’t care at all about the local community.

“Their visualisations don’t show how the turbines would block the views that are most loved by people here – and that’s before we even think about the pylon lines and towers. We created our own visualisations for social media and were told by Galileo that we had to take them down. They promised us months ago they would provide up to date graphics but there has been nothing. This is a massive industrial development that will totally change the landscape forever.”

The Galileo Empower plan proposes 18 wind turbines with a blade tip height of 200m, a Battery Energy Storage System, control building, storage compound, new access tracks, drainage works, concrete batching plant and anemometry mast. A ground-mounted solar array is also under consideration.