A conservation charity has agreed to pay an energy company £50,000 in legal costs after a failed challenge to its construction of a wind farm.
The John Muir Trust agreed an out-of-court settlement with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) of £50,000, less than the £350,000 which SSE was pursuing through the court system.
This follows an agreement for the charity to pay £75,000 towards the Scottish Government’s legal fees last month.
In an initial judicial review in December 2015, Lord Jones ruled in favour of the charity’s challenge to the construction of the wind farm, in which it argued that the Scottish government had not followed the correct planning process when approving SSE’s application in July 2014.
But last July, the Inner House of the Court of Session in Edinburgh overturned the decision to refuse planning permission for the 67-turbine SSE windfarm at Stronelairg in the Monadhliath mountains.
Now the trust has issued a statement describing its settlement with SSE as a “positive outcome” and said this concludes its campaign.
It reads: “We are grateful to the many supporters of our Stronelairg campaign, who have enabled us to meet all of the legal costs from our existing campaign funds.”
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SSE said the out of court settlement with the charity was “an appropriate and reasonable conclusion to [the] matter” and will pass on the £50,000 to not-for-profit organisation Visit Inverness Loch Ness, which will spend the money towards completion of walking and cycling route, the South Loch Ness Trail.
Paul Cooley, SSE director of generation development, said: “We are pleased to reach a reasonable conclusion with the John Muir Trust on the issue of expenses for the Judicial Review process.”
Graeme Ambrose, chief executive of Visit Inverness Loch Ness, said: “We are absolutely delighted that SSE has chosen to pass on this £50,000 to Visit Inverness Loch Ness.”
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