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Divisive plans to park bits of wind turbines at beauty spot to be assessed

News imageGetty Images A row of colourful beach huts at Findhorn. The colours of the little, wooden structures include white, green, red, blue and yellow. Below the huts is the beach and sea beyond. It is a sunny day with clouds int he sky.Getty Images
The Moray-Flow Park has been proposed for an area of seabed off Findhorn

Proposals to park parts of floating wind turbines in the Moray Firth off Findhorn are to be scrutinised by a full environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Offshore Solutions Group's (OSG) Moray Flow-Park has faced significant local opposition to its plans, and about 150 people gathered for a protest last month.

The developer said that "from day one" it had committed to carrying out a full assessment, which has now been formally requested by the Scottish government's Marine Directorate.

OSG had planned to have a second storage site off Nairn but dropped this proposal in November.

Last month, Moray Firth No to the Flow Park Steering Group called for an EIA to be carried out.

Campaigners said the Moray Firth was nationally and internationally recognised for its wildlife, including bottlenose dolphins and seabirds.

An EIA is an assessment of the "likely significant environmental effects" arising from a proposed development.

There are rules around the kind of developments that require an EIA.

News imageA map showing Scotland the locations of Inverness, Edinburgh and Glasgow and a close up of the Inner Moray Firth show Inverness, Nairn and Forres and the locations of Moray Flow-Park South and Moray Flow-Park North.
A site off Nairn was included in the original plan but was dropped late last year

Under OSG's plans, foundation base units - large platforms usually made from concrete or metal - would be stored temporarily at the Moray Flow-Park.

Chief executive Will Rowley said: "From day one, Offshore Solutions Group has documented its commitment to undertaking a full environmental impact assessment of the proposed Moray Flow-Park project."

He said the company was already working with the relevant environmental and maritime regulators, and an environmental consultant was doing a "full and extensive" assessment of the project's environmental impact.

"This includes our detailed, ongoing consultation activities with the fishing community, leisure users and other stakeholders within and around the Moray Firth," said Rowley.

He said he was pleased the Marine Directorate had issued its decision requesting the EIA.