Safety fears over HGV access to windfarm site

Roads too narrow for construction traffic, claims ross-shire resident

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Roy Baker, who has concerns over the C11 road

Highland Council is endangering the safety of road-users by allegedly failing to enforce planning conditions regarding HGV access for the construction of a 20-turbine windfarm in Ross-shire, according to an objector.

Retired haulier Roy Baker, who lives near the Fairburn scheme at Strathconnon, argues that a narrow and twisty three-mile stretch of C11 road between Marybank and the Scatwell site used by construction traffic is inadequate and that promised laybys have not materialised.

Mr Baker, 65, of Scatwell Cottage, Scatwell, Strathconon, said: “The whole stretch of road is potentially hazardous due to its narrowness.

“There are going to be cranes, a minimum of 10ft wide weighing 100 tonnes, and there have to be laybys within 100 yards of each other to accommodate those loads.

“Having travelled up the road last week in my 4x4, faced with an abnormal load escorted by the police, I pulled into a layby to be asked by the police to pull out of the layby because he considered the road not wide enough for my vehicle and I had to reverse out of the way into a farmer’s field.”

Principal Highland Council planner Ken McCorquodale insisted that “at no time has the public been put in danger”. He said his department had worked closely with the applicant, Scottish and Southern Energy, and its contractor to ensure planning conditions applied to the windfarm were adhered to.

“The council is content, to date, that the applicant is working within the terms of the planning permission and subsequent road construction consent,” he said. He added, however, that SSE had been asked to hasten the completion of roadworks to “limit further awkward deliveries until the final road surfacing is undertaken”.

A spokesman for SSE said it expected the necessary work to be completed yesterday. He added: “To the best of our understanding, the planning department is satisfied that the work we’ve done has been in line with what they would require us to do under the road construction consent.”

The area planning committee had at one time rejected the development citing weak bridges. The 328ft high turbines were subsequently approved for elevated moorland despite 111 objections.