THE Scottish Government has refused a request from councils for their planning departments to take a break from considering a flood of wind-farm applications.
Both Moray and Fife councils sought permission for a short-term moratorium to allow a review of their policies and dialogue with local communities. Aberdeenshire called for a six-month respite period on new applications after it received 800 turbine proposals in just more than a year.
However, the Scottish Government said ministers could not agree to the requests although consideration was being given to further ways of supporting planning authorities in dealing with the glut of projects.
A spokeswoman said: "It would simply cause undue delay and uncertainty.
"Proposals should be accompanied by appropriate levels of supporting information and appraisals, and unsuitable developments should be refused without undue delay."
Allan Wright, Moray Council leader, said he was disappointed the request had been refused: "I felt it was a reasonable one given that we are asking the people of Moray for their views on wind turbine planning for the future."
The leader of Fife Council, Alex Rowley, said: "This reinforces our commitment to protecting Fife communities from the cumulative impact of excessive onshore wind-farm development."
Scottish Government figures show there were 1253 applications for electricity generation in the 12 months from April 2011.
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