Wood chipping operation in Kingussie gets green light

Fears about the potential noise from a controversial wood chipping operation in Kingussie have failed to stop its go-ahead.

The Duke of Gordon Hotel clinched consent from Highland Council earlier this week to build an industrial shed for the production and storage of wood chipping.

The hotel won permission despite objections from three local residents and Kingussie Community Council, but a planning official admitted residents would be on to the authority "like a shot" should the noise breach health and safety guidelines.

Some locals had cited concerns about the noise and vibration from the chipping, plus timber deliveries to the new shed.

It will be built on land next to Ruthven Road and timber will be processed for the hotel’s biomass boiler, but only allowed for no more than six days in a year.

Residents were also alarmed about the threat of dust but the council’s environmental health officer Bob Murdoch was satisfied that a "dust curtain" at the shed would cut that risk.

Mr Murdoch had highlighted the site was former railway land and had an historic allocation for industrial use so it would have been "unreasonable" to insist that no noise should be made.

Strict conditions limiting the wood chipping to no more than six days in a calendar year were imposed by the south planning committee with the hours of work limited to between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday.

Mr Murdoch said that would see cut the risk of noise nuisance in a commercial area to an acceptable level and insisted it was "liveable" for neighbours.

Planning official Andrew McCracken told councillors on Tuesday in Inverness that residents would hear some noise but that was unavoidable.

"We expect some noise," he said. "But the neighbours will be on to us like a shot, if there is any breach.

Badenoch Highland councillor Dave Fallows predicted a "racket" and criticised the building’s "horrible" design.

"Six days a year is still six days a year and there is a potential disturbance with it," he said. "There is likely to be a substantial racket."

Councillor Fallows said the shed’s existence in the Cairngorms National Park should have prompted a better design.

"We might have expected something better than this but actually doing something about it is very difficult," said Councillor Fallows, who backed the application, despite his misgivings because of the environmental health department’s view.

Fellow Highland councillor Bill Lobban was content with the design but wanted extra insulation to muffle the expected noise more.

"It is standard industrial building in an industrial estate," he said. "Whether it in the National Park or not, I don’t think we can moan about the building. There are far worse buildings than that one."

Mr Murdoch said he expected the wood chipping to comply with noise guidelines, as set down by the World Health Organisation.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.