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YOUR VIEWS: Strath Oykel decision shows Scottish Government is out of touch with Highlands





Letter to the Editor from Jonathan A C Hampton, Langwell Beag.

Highland Council should have refused to look at the original application for Strath Oykel wind farm on account of insufficient information to put it in the public domain.

Wind turbines of 600ft in an area where the highest hill is 1600ft and most are around 1000ft and the nearest dwelling is less than a mile away should obviously be a non-starter.

Letters should be emailed to editor@northern-times.co.uk. Please include your address and a daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited for length or other reasons and are included at the editor’s discretion.
Letters should be emailed to editor@northern-times.co.uk. Please include your address and a daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited for length or other reasons and are included at the editor’s discretion.

Now, thanks to a government that is totally out of touch with anything Highland, they have approved it against the local democratic wishes and even the wishes of their own reporters.

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At Tutim, overlooking all those 600ft turbines, my son decided to put up a mobile log cabin to earn a little income so that he could stay here and help us in our retirement.

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The planners were quick to ask for a gas certificate for a blue bottle for cooking. Next, foul drainage- all removed by a reputable company. Next emergency lighting in case of a power cut. Site off the grid.

In fact I had outline planning permission for this very site and had jumped through all the necessary hoops. The reason we didn’t proceed with our retirement there was the cost of the grid connection of £10,000.

All their requirements seem to have been met, but now because he is not a crofter he needs planning permission. Retrospective, where they talk about the erection of said cabin. It was driven there.

They require maps of 1:200, 1:2500, 1:10,000 and lastly elevations 1: 50,000. The cabin stands at the dizzy height of 6ft 2in compared to the wind turbines of 600ft within two miles.

It is not surprising that the clearances continue and we are inundated with camper vans that block the roads and bring in nothing to the local communities.


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