The site of the proposed Stronelairg windfarm. Photo: Karl and Ali CC-BY-SA-2.0

Campaigners are seeking a judicial review of the Scottish Government’s decision to approve a controversial windfarm in the Highlands.

The John Muir Trust said there should have been a public inquiry into the proposal to build a 67-turbine development at Stronelairg in the Monadhliath Mountains.

The trust said the decision was taken in the face of opposition from the Government’s own advisory body, Scottish Natural Heritage; from the Cairngorms National Park Authority; and from three out of the four local councillors in Strathspey and Badenoch.

Written objections to the development from the public outnumbered supporting letters by a margin of almost 15 to one, it said.

The trust’s decision to petition the Court of Session for a review of the process came after the rejection of plans for a smaller windfarm overlooking the Dornoch Firth.

JMT chairman John Hutchison said: “Over the past year, the Scottish Government has made ground-breaking progress by adopting the new wild land areas map of Scotland and, for the first time, recognising wild land as an important national asset.

“However, we believe the decision by the Energy Minister to give the go-ahead to Stronelairg without a public local inquiry is not consistent with Scottish Government measures to protect the best areas of wild land from industrialisation.

“This is the largest ever windfarm approved in the Highlands, and was opposed by both the Government’s own advisory body on nature and landscape SNH, and by the Cairngorms National Park Authority.

“Because of the scale of the development, and the breadth of opposition to it, we believe it should have been the subject of a public local inquiry. In the absence of proper democratic scrutiny, our trustees feel we had no choice but to seek a judicial review of the decision.

“The trust is now seeking donations to help us take forward this legal action.”

The charity said Stronelairg is in the heart of the Monadhliath Mountains, which had been proposed as a core area of wild land by SNH at the time of the Energy Minister’s decision to approve the scheme. Subsequently, the Scottish Government asked SNH to remove Stronelairg and the surrounding area from the final version of the wild land areas map.

The Scottish Government on 21 August rejected a smaller development at Glenmorie, citing proximity to wild land as one of the key grounds for refusal.