OPPONENTS of a proposed windfarm in the Lammermuir Hills have described it as “the wrong development in the wrong place”.

More than 100 people attended a meeting in Gifford Village Hall last Wednesday highlighting the proposals for Newlands Hill, to the south-east of the village.

Fifteen turbines with a maximum tip height of 200m, and a further two turbines measuring up to 180m in height, are planned for the site.

A decision on Belltown Power’s plans will be made by Scottish Ministers and processed by the Energy Consents Unit (ECU).

READ MORE: Wind turbines up to 200m tall planned for Lammermuirs site

Andrew Hamilton, from the Lammermuir SOS group formed to co-ordinate opposition to the development, was delighted with the turnout.

He said it showed “the strength of feeling against this particular application”, adding: “We feel it is very important that local people make their objections known to the industrialisation of a beautiful part of a lovely county, and we wanted to give people the information necessary to do this.

“They should write directly to the Energy Consents Unit (email representations@gov.scot).

“We totally support efforts to develop renewable energy, but this should not be at the expense of all local environmental and social considerations.

“This is the wrong development in the wrong place.”

A planning determination is expected in the final quarter of this year.

Developers hope construction work could start late next year.

Andy Black, director of Belltown Power UK, said: “As part of the consultation process, we wrote to over 11,000 households. This feedback has been invaluable in understanding local people’s priorities and helped shape the final proposal.

“If consented, the development will offer local residents the opportunity to participate in an electricity discount scheme over the life of the project and the shared ownership offering will allow local communities across East Lothian to benefit from the returns generated.”