Objection Spotlight: Poor Site Selection for Giant’s Burn Wind Farm (ECU00005007)
The developers behind the proposed Giant’s Burn Wind Farm have chosen a site that is fundamentally unsuited to industrial-scale energy infrastructure. Their plan would place seven enormous wind turbines—five reaching 200 metres in height—on an exposed ridgeline above Dunoon, Sandbank, and the Holy Loch.
📍 This is not a remote moorland site. It lies in a highly sensitive and visible upland landscape known for its scenic value and cultural importance. The area is not designated as suitable for large-scale wind energy in the Argyll and Bute Local Development Plan 2 (LDP2), nor does it appear in any national preferred search areas.
📄 Yet the developer’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) fails to justify this location, provides no analysis of alternative sites, and makes no attempt to avoid conflict with nearby watercourses, peatland, or residential communities.
Instead of respecting the requirements of The Electricity Act 1989, which obliges developers to do what they reasonably can to mitigate visual and environmental harm, this proposal appears driven solely by landowner availability—not planning principles. The impact on the landscape would be dramatic, widespread, and irreversible.
🔍 The site sits within a landscape character type classed by NatureScot as Upland Forest-Moor Mosaic—a type known to be visually sensitive and unsuitable for development of this scale. The turbines would dominate key views, breach skylines, and impose on local communities. There has been no meaningful mitigation through layout or design.
This is a clear case of the wrong development in the wrong place.
🗣️ How to Object
📬 You can submit a formal objection through ObjectNow, which guides you through the process and generates a tailored, professional objection letter based on your location and concerns.
🛑 Every objection counts. This development threatens one of Cowal’s most scenic ridgelines and sets a dangerous precedent for placing industrial infrastructure in community-facing, non-designated areas.
📢 Visit https://cowalshill.object.now to object now before the deadline closes.
Let’s protect the Holy Loch and surrounding hills from irreversible industrialisation.