The court assessed whether the construction of the wind farm and its grid connection constituted a single project. After considering case law from the Scotland, England and Wales, the Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as from senior courts in Ireland and Spain, the Inner House held that the Scottish government’s reporter had erred in his approach to the project.

The reporter was found to have erred in failing to properly consider whether the windfarm and grid connection constituted a single project, for which an EIA was required. The Inner House held that this would necessarily be fact-specific, and his failure to undertake that consideration was a material error.

It was held to be a mistake for the reporter to focus too narrowly on the way in which the application was framed, rather than considering the true scope and nature of the project.

In its disposal the Inner House quashed the reporter’s decision and ordered that a different reporter now considers whether the whole project requires an EIA.

Terra Firma Chambers advocates James Findlay KC and Kenneth Young appeared for the successful appellant, instructed by Susan Leslie of Murray Beith Murray.