The last week has seen a public local inquiry in Inveraray at which Scottish Natural Heritage opposed the proposed 14 turbine windfarm at Stacain, near Dalmally, in Argyll.

Argyll and Bute Council had approved the application by Wind Prospect Stacain Ltd, overturning the recommendations of its own planning officers who had been influenced by twhat has turned out to be the unsubstantiated view of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

SNH claimed that the Stacain windfarm could have a devastating impact on one of the most important golden eagle territories in Scotland. However, during evidence it was revealed by an SNH expert that the Eagle pair most likely to use any part of the windfarm site are 40 years old; and as such any interruption to their breeding capabilities was long irrelevant. Additionally, what SNH was calling ‘one of the most productive pair of Eagles in Scotland’ had not in fact given birth to a chick since 1993 – some 15 years ago. This is hardly surprising, given the eagles advanced age.

Many of the audience at the inquiry, after listening to the evidence, were perplexed as to how SNH can trigger such costly public inquiries when presenting no new scientific evidence or credible expert opinion. This question was rasied in the Argyll & Bute Solicitor’s closing submission.

For Argyll has reported on this sort of situation before. It is important for SNH’s own credibility that it adopts a more discriminating stance on windfarm applications. Where, as here, it seems to have got locked in autopilot mode, objecting simply because that is what it does, it can be left looking foolish, as it did here. This cannot but damage the respect in which an institution important to Scotland is held.

What is encouraging is the growing confidence of Argyll & Bute Councillors to make their own decisions and, where these conflict with advice offered by, say, SNH or Historic Scotland, to folow their own judgment.

They saw off Historic Scotland over ‘the Rothesay windows’ case and over the demolition of the barn at Barn Brae in Inveraray. In the first case, Councillor Isobel Strong declared that preventing people from having competent windows was ‘an abuse of their human rights’. In the Inveraray case, Councillor Alison Hay said that ‘Historic Scotland have too mch power’. And in this case of the Stacain windfarm, they came to their own conclusions and overrode their own planning officers. In all three cases it would be hard, objectively to say that they made a single wrong decision.

With the Stacain windfarm inquiry, the ‘jury’ is literally still out. Scottish Government Reporter David Russell, must now weigh the importance of the submissions and make a recommendation to ministers on the matter. For Argyll will report his decision when we get it.