Logan Botanic Gardens wind turbine refusal recommended

Councillors are being recommended to throw out a proposal to site a wind turbine near the Logan Botanic Gardens.

Among the objectors are the Ministry of Defence, who say the structure would interfere with radar at West Freugh and jeopardise aircraft safety.

The proposed site for the 27m high turbine is a gentle hill slope facing the coast on the fringes of the Wigtownshire estate.

The site lies within the Rhins Coast Regional Scenic Area.

The application has drawn fire from the MoD, and there are also more than six separate and individual objections.

Defence experts say the turbine would be in the line of sight of West Freugh and would cause unacceptable interference to the radar control at the base - so jeopardising flight safety over and around the Luce Bay range.

Added to this, officials are recommending refusal of the application on the grounds that it would have a significant adverse effect on the visual amenity of the Rhins peninsula.

It would, they say, overwhelm the scale of, and detract from, the character of the landscape, and is contrary to both local authority and national policy on wind energy developments.