The Queen has won a battle against conservationists to build a private road at Balmoral so she can fell trees as part of sustainable forest management.
Representatives for the monarch lodged plans to build the road for lorries to transport them once they have been chopped down.
However, concerns were raised that the proposals could impact protected bird species including hen harriers.
There are only 617 breeding pairs of the rare birds of prey left in the UK.
The Queen (pictured during her address to the nation on April 5) has won a battle against conservationists to build a private road at Balmoral so she can fell trees as part of sustainable forest management. Representatives for the monarch lodged plans to build the road for lorries
The 760m-long private road will be built on 50,000-acre Balmoral estate (pictured) for the lorries to transport felled trees
The North East Scotland Biological Records Centre noted that the species had habitats within 100-metres of the proposed road.
The green light for the road has come just a week after Her Majesty won planning permission to build a green hydroelectric turbine.
The Balmoral Estate said in planning documents: ‘The application is to build a new forest private way for the purpose of timber haulage.’
‘Many millions of tonnes of timber are hauled each year in the UK.
Plans showing the Balmoral Estate and the road that will be built highlighted in red
‘Hauling timber is an essential part of sustainable forest management, which delivers major economic, social and environmental benefits.
‘The UK’s forest industries directly support over 160,000 jobs and home-grown timber is especially valuable in terms of reducing ‘timber miles’ by substituting for imports from around the world.
‘In some cases, timber haulage involves using roads that were not designed for traffic of this nature.’
More than a sixth of the 50,000-acre Balmoral estate is covered by trees, with almost 3,000 used for forestry, yielding 10,000 tonnes of wood a year.
Picture from a survey of protected species like the Hen Harrier in the location of the proposed new road
Prince Charles also recently revived the traditional method of horse logging on the estate.
Using horses is regarded as a more environmentally friendly practice than using heavy logging machinery.
The local council approved the 760m-long road after the estate submitted revised plans.
Deciding the application, a planning report said: ‘The proposed development is not considered to raise any issues of significance to the collective aims of the National Park.’
Plans detail how the hydroelectric turbines work to power the estate while surplus electricity can be sold on to the National Grid
Meanwhile the hydroelectric turbine, a two-megawatt generator, will be built on the River Muick and will generate up to £650,000 of power a year, which will power the estate, and surplus electricity could be sold on to the National Grid.
Plans for the turbine were also opposed by environmentalists who feared it would be too noisy for woodland creatures living nearby.
Aberdeenshire Council’s Environmental Team also objected to the proposals.
Spokeswoman Louise Cunningham said in planning documents: ‘Typically, hydropower turbines can emit significant amounts of noise.
‘The noise information currently provided in the Environmental Statement offers no measurements of the current background noise nor any site specific predictions.’
The plans will see the two-megawatt generator built on the River Muick, which runs through her 50,000-acre Balmoral estate in Scotland
Consequently, the plans were ‘called in’ by the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) in order to further scrutinise the environmental impact of the idea.
But the authority recently approved the plans along the river. It comes after a similar hydropower scheme began on the Gelder Burn, a stream that also runs through the area.
Richard Gledson, on behalf of Balmoral Estates, said of the plans: ‘Balmoral Estates has already developed a hydro scheme on the Gelder Burn, which was commissioned in 2014.
‘Following on the success of this project, and with a view to increasing the economic and environmental sustainability of Balmoral Estates, a study was carried out in 2013 into the potential for additional hydro generation.’
Plans show the front of the building where the generator will be situated – the turbines will be the fourth and fifth installed there
Outlining the decision, the CNPA ruled that it would jar with the national park but stressed that no work should be undertaken during the nesting bird season between February and August.
The hydro scheme will provide electricity to the Balmoral estate to help provide a focus on green energy.
The turbines will be the fourth and fifth installed there.
The first was supplied to provide electric light to Queen Victoria in 1898.
The Balmoral Estate is a working estate and covers 50,000 acres.
