Go-ahead given for 140,000 solar panels

THE green light has been given for a 40 megawatt Angus solar farm which could provide power to one of the area’s biggest employers.

The scheme will see 140,000 solar panels placed on sloping farmland north of Montrose and a cable connection running four and a half miles to the town for a private connection close to the site of pharmaceutical giant GSK.

Angus Council’s development standards committee unanimously approved the multi-million-pound Scottish Power Renewables East Ballochy scheme, which will also incorporate a 10MW battery storage facility and deliver sufficient energy to power the equivalent of 12,000 homes.

GSK has yet to officially confirm it is the end-user for the project, covering a site of almost 400 acres. The company has been asked for comment.

Scottish Power Renewables has developed the plan with principal landowner Stracathro Estates for a site where a 19MW solar array was approved in 2014 but never progressed.

Construction would be over a nine-month phased development, with the cable for the solar-plusstorage development running from the site north of Montrose Basin to the west of the village of Hillside, entering the town in the Broomfield area.

It will then run close to the Montrose Links golf courses before terminating at a point near GSK.

Scottish Power Renewables project officer Daniel Ferrier said surplus power could be exported to the local grid.

He said the topography of the land, just north of the House of Dun, makes the location an ideal site and the application had been recommended for conditional approval by Angus planners who said it would not create unacceptable amenity, landscape or environmental impacts if appropriate mitigation and planning conditions were attached.

GSK previously failed in a renewables bid after Marine Scotland blocked a scheme to place 15 wave turbines at the mouth of Montrose Basin.

RESIDENTS in a new Dundee housing estate say they are being left with no option but to drive everywhere in a failure of the council’s green plan.

The Western Gateway Community, on the border of Perthshire and Dundee, say a pedestrian link to nearby shops is crucial for safety and to limit air pollution. The development currently consists of about 500 properties but this could more than double within five years.

It is hoped funding can be found to create a clear footpath at the end of Denhead of Gray Road to link homes with a bus stop and shops at West Gourdie Industrial Estate.

Community group head Bill Batchelor (pictured) said the muddy path is currently the only safe route, in or out, on foot.

“They talk the talk about being environmentally

A CITY centre street is set to be transformed by a colourful pavement mural.

Multi-coloured tiles are to be painted on the pavement on the east side of Castle Street by a group of artistic volunteers.

It is hoped the mural will encourage more people to explore the shops and businesses in and around the street as the city centre tries to recover from the coronavirus lockdown.

The design has been inspired by the colours of the shopfronts on the street, and a number of businesses will be picking up paintbrushes and helping out with the mural this weekend.

A group of volunteers will create the mural, and on the day they will be given the tools they need to complete the street art.

Councillor Mark Flynn, convener of city development at Dundee City Council, said: “The idea is to brighten up the city centre and welcome people back to our streets as part of the council’s city centre recovery efforts.

“Castle Street has many independent retailers and links to the Waterfront and other shopping streets and painting the pavement will encourage people to use and explore these areas.

“Local businesses have been supportive of the idea and will be helping out with painting and, in the case of Madigans, supplying refreshments.

“A small army of volunteers has already come forward to take up