The Cairngorm National Park Authority’s planning committee is being urged not to object to revised plans to a nearby windfarm.
Dorset-based Infinergy has submitted a fresh “re-powering” planning application to Highland Council for the Tom nan Clach scheme on the Dava Moor, which was consented in July 2013.
The proposals would make the turbines 50ft taller, taking them to 410ft. However, the numbers would be cut from 17 to 13.
The council will make the final decision on the plans, but have consulted with the CNPA due to location of the proposed windfarm between Grantown and Nairn on the Dava Moor.
The original proposals were rejected by the local authority five years ago, but were approved by the Scottish Government following a public inquiry in 2013.
The national park did not object to the original plans but raised concern about potential cumulative impact.
And in a report due to go before the park’s planning committee this week, planning officer Katherine Donnachie said the proposal was “unlikely to have a significant effect on the wild land areas within the national park”.
However, she added that it “may affect the sense of wildness” along the north boundary and from the Cromdale hills.
She concludes the development “could proceed without detriment to the landscape character, setting and special qualities of the national park”, and recommends the committee does not object to the plans.
A spokeswoman for Infinergy, who are developing the project in partnership with the Earl of Cawdor, said: “We’ve been able, through improvements in technology, to optimise the site so that while the installed capacity remains the same, we predict up to 26% more renewable energy can be generated.
“Fewer turbines generating more power, meaning around 15,000 more tonnes of carbon saved and nearly 20,000 more homes powered by clean, green electricity.”
Three local community councils – Grantown, Carrbridge and Strathdearn – have all objected to the plans, as has land charity the John Muir Trust.
Grantown Community councillors said the development would be a ” gross desecration” of the landscape, while Andrew Kirk, chairman of Carrbridge Community Council said the windfarm would have a “detrimental impact on the local and national standing of environment, heritage and economy”.