The Scottish Government has announced the introduction of new planning controls to require advance notification to and approval by local authority planning departments of the intention to create a hilltrack or forestry track.
What is driving the government’s position is environmental protection and rural aesthetics, with planners directed to consider the weight of habitat and scenic impacts in coming to their decisions as to whether the design, siting and appearance of the proposed track are acceptable.
There is an inherent contradiction here, with the same Scottish Government immune to habitat and scenic impacts in its fast track granting of direct governmental consents to wind farms in remote moorland and hill areas – as with the current controversy over the proposal for one at Rannoch Moor,
But politicians are rarely troubled by contradiction.
Anne Gray of Scottish Land & Estates has responded to the Scottish Government’s statement of 20th August, saying: ‘The Minister has recognised that hill tracks are an important aspect of rural development; and landowners – many of whom are committed conservationists – understand that a balance has to be struck to help meet the needs of rural businesses while protecting the environment and natural heritage.
‘We acknowledge there have been concerns about the impact of some tracks and, while we understand the Minister’s reasons for seeking to introduce a system of prior notification for private roads and ways across Scotland, we feel the Scottish Government have been too quick to revisit this issue.
‘The decision to better promote best practice was taken a little over 18 months ago and there does not appear to be any substantial new evidence to suggest this approach is not working.
‘We also believe there may be a case for reconsidering whether prior notification is necessary for forestry tracks given the existing extensive approval processes forestry and associated tracks go through. However, much depends on how the new legislation is implemented and we seek to be fully involved in the process of developing guidance for planning authorities on this matter.
Scottish Land & Estates is working with Scottish Natural Heritage and the Heather Trust on a series of best practice events for tracks construction. The first of these events will take place in conjunction with Cairngorms National Park Authority this autumn.’
In the light of the reasons given by PLanning Minister, Derek Mackay, for the introduction of the new planning controls on hilltracks, it is interesting to consider content in the objection submitted by Ramblers Scotland to the planned Rannoch Moor Wind Farm, with a particular issue being the miles of access roads – which are hilltracks – to be constructed.
The organisation says: ‘Ramblers Scotland believes that the impacts of this proposal in this location would be very significant and could not be mitigated against in any effective way. We accept that the area is not devoid of any signs of human impact but the development of, for example, hill tracks and plantation forestry, are on a different scale to this proposal which would be a huge intrusion of an industrial character into a large tract of wild land. It is not an extension of an existing wind farm development, and lies 35km in distance from the closest wind farm.
‘Fig 7.2 in the environmental statement clearly shows the isolated nature of this proposed wind farm which would be particularly striking, both in terms of the turbines which will be erected and the many miles of access roads which would need to be constructed.
‘The approval of this wind farm would set a precedent which would undermine the Scottish Government’s own policy guidance on wild land protection and would risk losing public support for renewable energy more widely, especially given that the environmental statement illustrates that there would be significant visual effects from 14 of the 25 viewpoints tested, which include the summits of such iconic mountains as Ben Alder and Schiehallion.’
