Aberdeenshire Council had raised an objection to proposals for a two-megawatt generator on the River Muick, which runs through the 50,000-acre estate.

Officers at the council’s environmental team said that the proposal lacked details of how much noise the generator would make and whether it would be detrimental to the tranquillity of the woodland.

Louise Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the council, wrote 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 matter was called in by the Cairngorms National Park Authority so that it could make a decision. It approved the generator, noting that a similar scheme had been allowed on Gelder Burn, a stream that runs through the area. The turbine is expected to generate power worth £650,000 each year that will power the estate and potentially create a surplus that could be sold to the National Grid.

The authority ruled that the generator would be allowed despite the objection but stressed that no work should be undertaken during the nesting bird season between February and August.