QUEEN Margaret University has won its appeal against East Lothian Council’s refusal of plans to build a wind turbine on its grounds.

The local authority’s planning committee rejected the Musselburgh university’s proposals to site a 47-metre-high turbine in a field behind the campus last September.

QMU estimates that, once operational, the turbine could save the university £60,000 a year by providing power for the campus.

The university appealed to the Scottish Government, which last week overturned the council’s decision, insisting the university should be allowed to go ahead with its plans.

A majority of nine members to three on the council’s planning committee had refused the application for the triple-bladed single turbine, in line with a recommendation by planning officers to knock it back on the grounds of height and landscape impact.

Officers claimed it would appear as a highly exposed and obtrusive feature on the skyline and, with existing electricity pylons, would harmfully amount to visual clutter on the landscape.

But the Scottish Government Reporter ruled, after visiting the site, that while there would be some adverse impact on landscape character, this impact would not be significant.

In a decision for the Government’s Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals, the Reporter said: “I find that the proposed development would have some adverse impact on the landscape character and visual amenity of the area, but in overall terms this impact would not in the circumstances be significant.

“I therefore conclude that the proposed turbine is in overall terms consistent with the provisions of the [local authority] development plan.” The university now has three years to start constructing the turbine, with a condition that if it does not produce electricity over a continuous six-month period, once operational, it will be shut down and dismantled.

Steve Scott, director of campus and commercial services at Queen Margaret University, said: “The addition of renewable energy to our current climate change action plan confirms our commitment to sustainable development.

“We are therefore delighted that the planning application has now been approved and we are now looking at options for project delivery.”