Case Study: The Moray Council achieves clearer, faster onshore wind planning with Ordnance Survey spatial data

The Moray Council - Customer Case Study

The Moray Council faced the challenge of producing clear, evidence-based guidance for onshore wind development that balanced the Scottish Government’s renewable targets with environmental and community concerns. Working with Ordnance Survey and drawing on the One Scotland Mapping Agreement (OSMA) datasets, the Council needed spatial data and mapping tools to communicate complex planning information to statutory consultees, developers and the public.

Ordnance Survey supplied OSMA and derived spatial datasets and supported an interactive maintained map of wind turbine proposals, enabling non-experts to visualise landscape capacity, cumulative impacts and key scenic approaches. The resulting guidance—underpinned by Ordnance Survey data—streamlined decision-making, reduced wasted applications, improved stakeholder engagement and was shortlisted for a Royal Town Planning Institute Scottish Award for Quality in Planning.

The Moray Council

Kevin Belton

GIS\CAG Officer