Cloich Forest Wind Farm Volume 3
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CLOICH FOREST WIND FARM VOLUME 3: TECHNICAL APPENDICES TECHNICAL APPENDIX A4.5: GATECHECK REPORT (AUGUST 2020) JUNE 2021 Prepared By: Arcus Consultancy Services 7th Floor 144 West George Street Glasgow G2 2HG T +44 (0)141 221 9997 l E [email protected] w www.arcusconsulting.co.uk Registered in England & Wales No. 5644976 CLOICH FOREST WIND FARM GATECHECK REPORT SEPTEMBER 2020 Prepared By: Arcus Consultancy Services 7th Floor 144 West George Street Glasgow G2 2HG T +44 (0)141 221 9997 l E [email protected] w www.arcusconsulting.co.uk Registered in England & Wales No. 5644976 ECU Gatecheck Report Cloich Forest Wind Farm TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 2 DESIGN OF THE DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................ 2 2.1 The Site and Surrounding Area ...................................................................... 2 2.2 Design Evolution ............................................................................................. 2 2.2.1 Consented Layout – July 2016: 18 Turbines x 115 m Tip Height ............................... 2 2.2.2 Scoping Layout – October 2019: Up to 14 Turbines x 145 m Tip Height ..................... 3 2.2.3 Design Iteration – January 2020: 12 Turbines x 149.9 m Tip Height .......................... 3 2.2.4 Draft Design – March 2020: 12 Turbines x 149.9 m Tip Height ................................. 4 2.2.5 Draft Track Layout – August 2020: 12 Turbines x 149.9 m Tip Height ....................... 5 3 SCOPING AND CONSULTATION................................................................................. 7 3.1 Scoping ........................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Tip Height Increase ........................................................................................ 8 3.3 Community Engagement ................................................................................ 9 3.4 Private Water Supplies ................................................................................. 11 3.5 Bird Surveys ................................................................................................. 11 4 APPLICATION DETAILS AND TIMELINE FOR SUBMISSION .................................... 13 4.1 Submission ................................................................................................... 13 5 APPENDIX A – SCOPING COMMENTS ...................................................................... 15 6 APPENDIX B – TIP HEIGHT INCREASE CONSULTATION COMMENTS ..................... 46 7 APPENDIX C - FINAL AGREED VIEWPOINT LIST .................................................... 49 EDF Renewables Arcus Consultancy Services September 2020 Page i ECU Gatecheck Report Cloich Forest Wind Farm 1 INTRODUCTION This Gatecheck Report (the Report) has been prepared by Arcus Consultancy Services Ltd (Arcus) on behalf of EDF Renewables (the Applicant). The Applicant is proposing to submit an application to the Scottish Government's Energy Consents Unit (ECU) under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 19891 to construct and operate a wind farm (the Development) within the Scottish Borders on land at Cloich Forest, located approximately 5.5 kilometres (km) northwest of Peebles and approximately 2.5 km west of Eddleston (the Site). The Report sets out the information required by the ECU to undertake a gatecheck for the Development in compliance with the gatechecking procedure2 as outlined by the ECU. The purpose of this Report is to describe how the design of the Development has evolved since the pre-scoping stage. Highlighting influencing factors on the design either as a response to environmental constraints identified during the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process or through consultation feedback from statutory or non-statutory consultees. The Report sets out the following in line with the ECU gatechecking procedure: Description of the design evolution, highlighting key iterations; Interactions with statutory and non-statutory consultees during the EIA process, with a focus on the scoping comments and how these have been addressed; Description of community engagement undertaken to date; and Details of the forthcoming application including a timeframe for submission, advertisement requirements and proposed locations for the application to be publicly viewed. 1 UK Government, 1989, Electricity Act 1989 [Online] Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/29/contents (Accessed 27/08/2020) 2 Gate-checking process for section 36 and section 37 applications [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.scot/policies/energy- infrastructure/energy-consents/ (Accessed 27/08/2020) EDF Renewables Arcus Consultancy Services September 2020 Page 1 ECU Gatecheck Report Cloich Forest Wind Farm 2 DESIGN OF THE DEVELOPMENT 2.1 The Site and Surrounding Area The Site is centred on NGR 320514 647492 and covers an area of 1,085 hectares (ha); the extents and location are shown on Figure 1. The Site is entirely located within the administrative boundary of Scottish Borders Council (‘the Council’). The Site predominantly comprises of commercial coniferous plantation at varying degrees of maturity, including areas of clear felling. The topography of the Site and immediate vicinity is complex, with elevation ranging from approximately 280 metres (m) Above Ordnance Datum (AOD) in the north-east part of the Site to approximately 476 m AOD at the peak of Crailzie Hill in the south. Vegetation across the Site largely consists of forestry and open moorland. The Site encompasses the rolling Cloich Hills, including Peat Hill (466 m AOD), Ewe Hill (462 m AOD), White Rig (325 m AOD), and Crailzie Hill (476 m AOD). The hills are dissected by a number of watercourses, including Middle Burn, Flemington Burn, Martyr’s Dean, Corehope Burn and Harehope Burn. Those watercourses that flow southwest feed into the Flemington Burn on the west of the Site and eventually feeds into the River Tweed. Those watercourses that flow down to the northeast of the Site feed into Middle Burn and Shiplaw Burn which feeds into Eddlestone Water and eventually the River Tweed. No public roads are located within the Site, although there are number of existing good quality forest roads. The A701 runs to the west of the Site and the A703 runs to the east of the Site. There are a number of residential properties surrounding the Site, with several located within 1 km. Section 36 consent and deemed planning permission for Cloich Forest Wind Farm was granted following a Public Local Inquiry (PLI) on 8th July 2016 for 18 wind turbines with a tip height of 115m. 2.2 Design Evolution The EIA is the key driver for the wind farm’s design, providing information that guides its development. In identifying environmental sensitivities and constraints at the Site, they can be avoided in later versions of the wind farm layout. This iterative design process means that during EIA layouts change frequently; led by environmental considerations and validated by engineering reviews for turbine performance and constructability. The final layout that will be submitted for S36 consent and assessed in the EIA report will be the culmination of this process where many of the environmental constraints and sensitivities of the Site will be avoided. The following sections provide a summary of the key stages in this process at Cloich Forest. 2.2.1 Consented Layout – July 2016: 18 Turbines x 115 m Tip Height Section 36 consent and deemed planning permission for Cloich Forest Wind Farm was granted following a Public Local Inquiry (PLI) on 8th July 2016 by the Scottish Ministers, under reference number WIN-140-1 (Consented Development). The PLI held for Cloich was conjoined with an appeal for Hag Law Wind Farm which was proposed on land adjacent to Cloich Forest. The consent is subject to 27 conditions. The EIA undertaken for the Consented Development and the discussion provided in the PLI Report set out a thorough understanding of the environmental issues relating to the Site and enabled the scope of the forthcoming EIA for the Development to be focussed on topics that are likely to experience significant effects. Arcus Consultancy Services EDF Renewables Page 2 September 2020 ECU Gatecheck Report Cloich Forest Wind Farm The Consented Layout is presented on Figure 2. 2.2.2 Scoping Layout – October 2019: Up to 14 Turbines x 145 m Tip Height Since the time of the submission of the planning application in October 2012 and the submission of Supplementary Environmental Information in January 2014, there have been changes in government financial support for renewables, prompting the Applicant to review the consented development. The need to produce a lower cost renewable electricity has led to wind turbines becoming taller, where substantial improvements in yield are achieved by using longer turbine blades. The Scoping layout for the Development provided an update to the consented layout, to reflect larger turbine geometry and market requirements. The turbine tip height and general dimensions were increased to reflect current trends in wind turbine technology. Early stage landscape and visual work carried out by OPEN in 2018 considered a number of layouts and turbine sizes. The Reporters’ Report 3provides useful information as to the most sensitive landscape and visual receptors, and how the wind farm will affect these. In some cases, reference is