A group of countryside dwellers are objecting to plans to build a battery storage facility on agricultural land in the heart of their community. The major development, which is about three football pitches in size, is earmarked for land at Loanhead Farm, just off the Elgin to Duffus road. What’s known as a proposal of application notice has been submitted to Moray Council’s planning committee by the UK arm of Spanish company OPDEnergy.
Although the development is still at a fledgling stage and the committee won’t be making a decision at its meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, August 13), local residents have taken the chance to make their opposition known immediately. One of them, Sarah Hazzard, stated the development would be an “eyesore” that would spoil a beautiful part of the region. She added: “They’re proposing to build on prime farming land.
It’s going to ruin an area on the Laich of Moray. “We’ve written to the MSP, the MP and to our local councillors to raise awareness about what’s being proposed. We’re going to fight this.
” The residents are questioning why a site has been chosen that’s more than two miles from the substation on Elgin’s Covesea Road which the facility would serve. Amongst their other concerns are the impact that construction traffic would have on a single track lane with no passing places or space to turn lorries. In addition, they are highlighting that the underground cable linking the facility to Elgin would pass through ancie.