Plans for a single turbine on a Black Isle farm have been thrown out by a Scottish Government reporter.
Plans for a 112ft tower at Rootfield Farm near Muir of Ord were initially refused by Highland Council’s north planning committee last year.
And, following an appeal, the decision has been backed up by the Scottish Government.
Reporter Jill Moody said that the trubine would be “widely obvious and strongly dominant in many views across the landscape”.
Applicant Nick Mackenzie had said that the limited scale of the proposal, in terms of height and number of turbines, means it will not have a significant impact on amenity and is therefore in line with planning policy.
Rootfield Farm is part of Black Isle Dairy which produces homemade ice cream.
The farmer had hoped that the turbine could be used to power the equipment at the dairy.
The farm lies to the south side of the B9169 Leanaig-Muir of Ord road near to Newton of Kinkell.
The plans were opposed by Ferintosh Community Council and by local resident and former sheriff principal for the north, Sir Stephen Young.
In total Highland Council received several objections from 28 separate addresses.
Ms Moody said that she felt that the applicants assessment “under-represents the harmful visual impact of the proposal , especially for local residents”.
Bruce Morrison, chairman of Ferintosh Community Council, said the group had been concerned about the height of the turbine which would have been built close to houses.
Mr Mackenzie was unavailable for comment yesterday.