Hi All

We wanted to draw your attention to a very significant development regarding Vattenfall’s plans to construct a second windfarm in the Clasindarroch Forest. We strongly believe that Vattenfall’s plans would be catastrophic for the wildcats that live there. However, there is now a seemingly viable alternative to this destruction. Another company called Infinergy have proposed a windfarm that is adjacent to the Clashindarroch forest but wouldn’t involve the extensive forest clearance that the Vattenfall proposal would.

The Infinergy project would be built on open moorland which isn’t valuable wildcat habitat. You can see in the map above that the land bounded by red is outside the forest. Of course, we would like to see that every effort is made to mitigate any disturbance to the wildcats by this Infinergy plan, but on the face of it, it seems like a very sensible alternative with vastly reduced potential consequences for the critically endangered Scottish wildcat. Furthermore, at a proposed generation capacity of up to 195.2 MW, it would represent a greater generation capacity than Vattenfall’s Clashindarroch II plan.

We have stated all along that we are of course pro renewable energy as long is it is the right development for the right site. The Vattenfall proposal clearly isn’t, but the Infinergy proposal is potentially a lot more sensible.

As part of the planning process, authorities are duty bound to consider alternatives as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment process. We have duly brought this alternative proposal by Infinergy to the attention of the relevant government department and we will shortly be reaching out to the Ministers who will ultimately make the decision on the Vattenfall proposal. We will be making the case very clearly, that the Infinergy proposal represents a higher output windfarm without the destruction of a wildcat forest.

This is the link to the Infinergy proposal.

https://www.clashindarrochwindfarmextension.co.uk/the-project/

We reiterate that we of course would like to hear more about how the Infinergy proposal would mitigate and reduce disturbance in the adjacent forest, but this scheme is certainly an interesting and potentially strong reason for refusal for the ministers to consider. Of course, this is on top of the overriding point that regardless of the Infinergy proposal, the Vattenfall proposal is simply the wrong development in the wrong site.

We will continue to update you at every step of the way and we stand ready to act, should the unthinkable happen and the Vattenfall proposal is approved. There is so much at stake so keep watching and thanks for your continuing support.

Very best wishes

Emily (Director) and Finlay