Join our campaign to oppose the destruction of one of Scotland’s most important landscapes.

Pressendye is a landmark on Donside and Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire.  With its neighbouring hills, it is a keystone in the Howes of Cromar and Cushnie.  The hill is  prominent from many spectacular viewpoints from all directions.

Developers intend to cover it with seven 80 metre (263ft) high towers, each bearing  turbines with huge blades soaring 125 metres (410 ft) above the hill at speeds of up to 300kph.

This towering industrial development would stand within 6km of the Cairngorms National Park, established in 2003 to protect one of the last great wildernesses of Western Europe from intrusive modern development.  The construction of a wind factory on Pressendye would make a mockery of all its aims.

The visual impact on views from all over the National Park would be enormous. The developers’ own map shows that their turbines would be visible from Ben Macdui, Morven and Lochnagar, from the Deeside Road between Ballater and Dinnet, from Aboyne, from the braes of Glen Tanar, from the shores of Loch Kinord and other spectacular viewpoints in the heart of the National Park. 

If you are a resident in the Howe of Alford, Kildrummy, or even near Inverurie, there would be many places be where you too would have to live with them.   You may not realise how far-flung their impact would be until it is too late.

This website is compiled by “Stop Turbines on Pressendye”, an action group of people living around Tarland in the Howe of Cromar on the south side of the hill with contributions from Cushnie Wind Action Group (CWAG) to the north-east.

We will present our reasons for opposing the scheme which we believe would despoil a unique landscape, drive away visitors, and affect our lives in ways which far outweigh any benefits claimed by the developers.

There is also information on how to join our campaign and how to have your say NOW. 

“Atmos Consulting”, part of West Coast Energy, are agents for the developers, Cushnie Wind Energy Ltd.   Atmos/West Coast Energy have applied to the Marr Area Committee of Aberdeenshire Council for planning permission.  We will use West Coast Energy/Atmos Consulting interchangeably: it’s the same people behind it.

Developers choose their words carefully.  Wind “farms” sound like pleasant additions to the countryside.  But they are nothing of the kind.  They are industrial developments, which is why we prefer to talk about the wind “factory” on Pressendye.

We are in favour of renewable energy, but we believe that sites for wind factories must be chosen with the utmost care to ensure the preservation of our heritage, both natural and historical, for future generations.   And better alternatives are becoming widely available.

Details and documents showing the formal application are available on the Aberdeenshire Council website.  You can send Aberdeenshire Council your objections NOW.   See “What Can You Do?” page on this site for full details.  

We are alarmed at the number of people who were unaware of this proposal until we told them about it. Officials of the Forestry Commission acting for the Government (the landowner) said they wanted a high degree of community involvement in this development.   We believe not enough has been done by the developers to fulfil this aim.

Our Vision Statement: Your views clear!