Highland councillors are to review the local authority’s rejection of a proposed hydro scheme beside Little Loch Broom, in Wester Ross.
Officers ruled out the project earlier this year for a catalogue of reasons including its scale, design and potentially negative impact on the local environment.
London-based DHG Hydro, which has built numerous other schemes in Scotland and elsewhere in Britain, declined to comment on the review.
Members of the council’s planning review committee will visit the site before discussing the planning application on Thursday. (NOV 26)
The 2MW project was planned for the Allt Airdeasaidh River (Ardessie Burn) which flows into Little Loch Broom on the south side of Ardessie, near Dundonnell.
It was refused in July because it was deemed contrary to planning policy.
Officers felt it would pose a “significant detrimental impact” for the An Teallach site of special scientific interest.
Their report concluded that “the special qualities of the Wester Ross national scenic area (NSA) would be significantly affected by the proposed development”.
It stated that access would be “extremely problematic” because of the altitude, geology and gradient involved.
“The combination of these elements, together with the other manmade structures and the abstraction of water from the burn are considered to have an unacceptable cumulative impact on the special qualities of the NSA,” it stated.