A Group of Aberdeenshire councillors called for a moratorium on windfarms as they formally recorded their opposition to a contentious energy scheme near Huntly yesterday.

Aberdeenshire Council's Marr area committee has discussed Amec's hopes of building 47 wind turbines in the Clashindarroch Forest on a number of occasions, but has not yet forwarded views to the Scottish Executive.

Members decided in November that more information on the scheme was required, but passed a planners' view of the proposals to the executive to meet a consultation deadline.

Marr councillors now want to see a decision on Clashindarroch - and windfarm schemes across the country - put on hold until clear national guidance is drawn up. They finalised their opinions at a meeting in Alford Public Hall yesterday, and will be considered by a specially-scheduled meeting of the infrastructure services committee in January, before being passed to the executive.

Alford councillor Richard Stroud was concerned that investigations into the scheme did not highlight the forest's proximity to the Cairngorms National Park, 8km away.

"The proposal in my view is a very massive development, almost of an industrial nature," he said. "If it was about something other than generating electricity, I'm wondering if we'd even be considering it."

He added: "One of the principal premises of the national park is to protect for future generations the park's integral and visual amenity.

"My opinion is this development will detract from that."

Mr Stroud said he was disappointed that neither Amec's environmental assessment of the scheme, or the council's own planning report, seemed to give consideration to the closeness of the park.

Aboyne councillor Peter Argyle said he was not satisfied with the tone of the council's planning report, which was generally supportive of the proposal. "I feel that the thrust of the report is perhaps over-influenced by the structure plan," he said.

Although supportive of renewable energy, Mid-Deeside councillor Jill Webster said there was still a long way to go in terms of determining the effectiveness of windfarms.

And she said the council should be strong in asking for a moratorium on such developments until the issue was investigated further.

Donside and Cromar councillor Bruce Luffman added Britain should be looking at Denmark's experiences with wind energy to get a better idea of the efficiency of turbines.

Further concern surrounded the environmental statement submitted by Amec as part of the application, which Banchory East and Crathes councillor Jenny Watson felt contained a lack of information.

Councillors went on to agree their opposition to the application, and called for a moratorium on windfarms until clear guidelines and an energy strategy are drawn up by the Scottish Executive. Members also decided the large scale of the proposed park would have a negative impact on the Cairngorms National Park.

They also questioned the legality of using Forestry Commission land to establish the park. These views will be brought before infrastructure services committee members on Wednesday, January 7.