PROPOSALS for one of the largest solar farms in Scotland and a battery energy storage site at a historic battleground are being vigorously opposed by the surrounding community.
Both sites are on graded quality agricultural land, despite worries over Scotland’s future food security.
The latest protest is over proposed battery and solar sites for land around the Perthshire village of Tibbermore beside the battlefield of Tippermuir.
Also known as the Battle of Tibbermore, this was fought in 1644 and was significant as the first victory of the Marquis of Montrose’s extraordinary campaign within Scotland on behalf of Charles I. The Royalist forces won a decisive victory over the larger, less experienced, Covenanter army.
The two sites are immediately north and east of the village in areas with residential property and would lead to the industrialisation of the area, according to the protesters, as well as an increased flood risk for homes already frequently flooded. They say that although the flood risk has been demonstrated, it has been brushed aside.
The campaigners also claim the plans would affect migrating geese who often land at the sites. There are fears red squirrels and bats in a nearby wood would be affected.
The battery energy storage system (BESS) site, in particular, would be a toxic fire hazard for nearby homes, it is alleged, and both developments would be eyesores in a peaceful area near the main tourist route to Crieff.
More anger has been caused by a perceived lack of consultation, with the first notice of the Tibbermore battery storage development communicated under the name of a different village, some five miles away.
Richard Mills, whose home will be completely surrounded by solar panels if the second plan gets the go-ahead, only found out about the proposal when he was told about it by a neighbour.
He told the Sunday National that he had been completely overlooked and wasn’t even on the Neighbour Notification list. He added that the visual impact of the 96,084 solar panels surrounding his house had not been considered.
The number of panels has been reduced from 134,300 following objections from the community. It will still cover 125HA over 12 fields and would generate up to 49.9MW for a period of 40 years, according to consultants for the company, Namene Solar.
Battery energy storage units are also planned for the Kinnon Park site on the north side of the farm track near the cottages. These have been objected to by Sepa unless certain amendments are met.
Mills said there was a high degree of biodiversity on the site which is on the path of thousands of migrating pink-footed geese.
“There is a real risk of thousands of geese mistaking the glint off the solar array as water and trying to land with devastating consequences,” he said.
Clive Wood, who lives just yards from the proposed battery energy storage site beside Tibbermore, and who is joint chair of the group set up by the community council fighting the proposals, said that flooding was a problem at both sites and the developments would make this worse because of poor drainage.
“We have experienced regular flooding of the garden and road because the culvert is totally inadequate to take the volume of water,” he said.
“The site is right against our cottage. It was to be 250m away but now they are putting in two lakes to hold potentially toxic waste and one of them goes up to my nearest neighbour’s garden and within 70ft of ours. The containers are now to be placed on stilts, increasing the visual impact.
“All of this should have been notified to us and should have been in the local area development plan but none of that has occurred.”
The villagers have been angered further to discover that the battery energy storage site has been designated as “essential infrastructure”’ by Perth and Kinross Council.
“This decision was taken after the consultation period when residents no longer had the opportunity to comment or object on the extraordinary council plans to allow a developer to ignore the established flooding and wildlife objections that were raised regarding the site,” said Wood.
The villagers are now asking why the greenfield site is “essential” when they claim former industrial sites are readily available.
“The industrialisation of Tibbermore was never mentioned in the council local development plan,” said Wood. “We are furious about this and the way the council is allowing the developer, Root-Power north, to access the greenbelt.
“Furthermore, concerns still remain over the fire hazard caused by the battery energy storage containers, noise levels and the potential damage to the battlefield site.”
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said: “Applications for a BESS, solar farm with smaller BESS and compensatory flood storage work remain under consideration and will be decided by our Planning and Placemaking Committee in due course.
“Drainage and flood-risk issues are considered as part of the planning process and consultation has been undertaken with a range of bodies regarding these sites, including Sepa, Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and Historic Environment Scotland.
“Recent amendments to the application for a solar farm will see neighbouring properties notified of these changes and given more time to comment should they wish.
“National guidance is used to determine when an application is defined as essential infrastructure.”
The dispute comes as the Reform UK political party last week tried to tap into concerns voiced by many rural communities across Scotland and the rest of the UK over the surge of planning applications for battery and solar developments on prime agricultural land.
The party announced a new policy which would penalise landowners who lease or sell farming land for such sites.
