NON TECHNICAL SUMMMARY

WESTERMOST ROUGH OFFSHORE FARM

OCTOBER 2009 Westermost Rough

NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY

The project 4

The Environmental Statement 5

The Environmental Impact Assessment Process 6

The Environmental Impact Assessment 7

Summary of Cumulative Impacts 14

Summary of Onshore Environmental Impact Assessment 16 This document is a non-technical summary of the Environmental Statement (ES) for the Location of Westermost Rough Offshore . The Westermost Rough ES is based on information from a number of surveys, studies and impact assessments. Offshore Wind Farm

Darlington 100km Westermost Rough Limited is planning to 90km build a wind farm of 240-245MW capacity 80km

70km approximately 8km off the East Yorkshire Scarborough Scarborough Coast at Withernsea. The completed wind 60km Ripon 50km farm will make an important contribution to Bridlington 40km

Harrogatearrogate the UK government’s ambitions of installing York 30km 33 GW offshore by 2020, and 20km eds Beverley 10km will also help to provide the practical experi- Rothwell Castleford Knottingley Wakefield Knottingley River Humber Wakefield Pontefract Goole River Humber Pontefract River Ouse River Trent River Humber ence necessary for Round 3 projects. River Humber River Humber

River Humber Barnsley Barnsley ScunthorpeScunthorpe River Trent Bentley Grimsby Doncaster Cleethorpes

Construction, operation and decommission- Rotherham

effield Gainsborough River Trent ing will have a number of impacts on the LouthLouth Worksop EastEast Retford Retford

Chesterfieldhesterfield chosen site and its surroundings, and the LincolnLincoln

River Trent Mansfield Sutton-in-AshfieldSutton-in-Ashfield purpose of the Environmental Statement is Kirkby in Skegness Skegness Ashfield

Newark-on-Trent to describe and evaluate those impacts. It is Hucknall Arnold Carlton IlkestonIlkeston Nottingham River Trent Boston LongLong Eaton EatonWest Bridgford our firm belief that the positive impacts of Beeston rby Grantham River Trent River Trent the wind farm far outweigh the negative River Trent LoughboroughLoughborough Melton SpaldingSpalding Mowbray impacts. King's Lynn Introduction

Westermost Rough Limited is a daughter company of DONG Energy, a Danish energy company in which the Danish state is the majority shareholder. DONG Energy produces, distributes and trades in energy and related products in Scandinavia and northern Europe. DONG Energy owns and operates land- based wind turbines in , Poland and Swe- den and is partner in a number of offshore wind farm projects in Denmark and the UK, including Barrow Offshore Wind Farm (operating); Burbo Offshore Wind Farm (operating); Walney Offshore Windfarm (under ) and West of Duddon Sands Wind Farm (partly owned; consented) in the Eastern Irish , and Gunfleet Sands (under construction) and (partly owned, consented) in the . Further information can be found at www.dongenergy.com The project

The site for Westermost Rough Offshore and the type to be used has not been finally cable will have its landfall north of Tunstall Wind Farm is leased from the Crown Estate decided. The impact assessment has taken and will continue as conventional buried as a so-called Round 2 development. These this into account by assessing different power cables to a new Staithes Road sub- sites have been offered in three selected types of foundations. For example, the station in Salt End. strategic areas around the British coastline. gravity foundation takes up more space on The Westermost Rough site was originally the seabed and gives rise to more turbidity With a power capacity of up to 245MW, given to another developer, Total, who re- and sedimentation during construction, Westermost Rough will make an important nounced after having accomplished the whereas the steel monopile gives rise to contribution to British scoping process. noise impacts when it is driven into the production. The UK government has set a seabed. target of 15% renewable energy by 2020 The cumulative effects of the nearby Hum- with a main part coming from the potential ber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm – when Scour protection is anticipated to be installation of 33GW offshore wind. Wester- constructed – must also be taken into con- needed around the offshore structures, most Rough Wind Farm will also contribute sideration when assessing the impacts that depending on the foundation design that to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions may arise. is finally selected. with an approximate annual reduction of

265,000 tonnes of CO2, 3,000 tonnes SO2

The wind farm turbine array consists of a The construction of the foundations and and 930 tonnes NOx. Westermost Rough number of rows of wind turbines connected installation of the wind turbines involves a Wind Farm thus has a significant positive by cables to a substation from which an ex- number of workboats, crane barges and impact on climate change emissions and port cable on the seabed carries the power support vessels. Shipping of materials and will help the UK Government to reach its to shore. The number which type and ca- supplies to the site will also create addi- reduction targets. pacity of turbines will depend on type is tional traffic during the construction available and well proven at the time of period. There are many important users of the sea construction. Turbines in the range 3-7MW in the UK. A major challenge for wind farm have been assessed. The wind farm will be connected to shore developers is to ensure the problem-free by an export cable buried in the seabed. co-existence of offshore wind farms with The turbines and offshore substation stand Conventional techniques will be used to in- existing activities including navigation, on individual foundations of or stall the cable and will cause only tempo- commercial fisheries and military activities. steel. A number of foundation types exist, rary disturbance to the seabed. The export

The Wind Turbines and the Foundations

4 The Environmental Statement (ES)

The impacts of the proposed wind farm will describing the quality, safety, health and proposed project on the physical, biologi- fall into three distinct phases: construc- environmental management and monitor- cal and human environment in the geo- tion, operation and decommissioning. Full ing systems that will apply during the life- graphical area surrounding the project information about the impact assessment time of the project. where potential effects could occur. Cumu- is given in the ES report and its accompa- lative effects of Westermost Rough and nying Annexes. The report deals with the The ES presents the justification for the other wind farm projects in the area are environmental impact of the proposed proposed Westermost Rough Wind Farm also considered. project during the construction, operation and the different options for project imple- and decommissioning phases, as well as mentation. It considers the impact of the

5 The Environmental Impact Assessment Process

Scoping Hornsea and Bridlington. These exhibitions quired for the construction and the opera- In 2004 the Westermost Rough Ltd’s prede- provided information about the proposed tion of Westermost Rough Offshore Wind cessor Total produced a Scoping Report and wind farm project off the coast of Yorkshire. Farm. The key consents applied for are the received a number of comments from Con- A second round of public consultations will following: sultees and Stakeholders. The report identi- take place in autumn 2009 in connection fied the physical limits of the proposed with the submission of the Project Applica- Consent under section 36 of the Electricity project study area, key potential risks and tion and the Environmental Statement. Act 1989 to construct and operate a wind the types and levels of impacts that were to farm. This will also cover the offshore cables be assessed and used to select alternatives WASH Group and other infrastructure. for consideration. The scoping report and The Round 1 and 2 wind farm developers in the received comments have been used in the Greater Wash area have joined forces in FEPA License under section 5 of the Food the planning of the surveys, studies and En- the so-called WASH Group. Whenever possi- and Environment Protection Act 1985, vironmental Impact Assessments. ble and convenient this group has coordi- concerning the protection of marine eco- nated contact with the local and national systems. The scoping activity has continued through- authorities in order to assist the process of out the preparation of the Environmental applications for consent, and also to coordi- Consent under section 34 of the Coast Pro- Statement, so that the scope of work has nate the locations of the different sites. tection Act 1949 in order to make provision been amended in the light of new issues and for the safety of navigation in relation to the new information. In addition to the consul- Investigations export cables. tation in connection with the scoping pro- Following the guidelines and specifications cedure, continuous consultations with the established by Department of Trade and In- Planning permission under section 90 of Statutory Consultees have taken place in or- dustry (DTI) and by the EU on Environmen- the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, der to reduce the risk of delays caused by tal Impact Assessments of offshore wind sought as part of the section 36 application, requests for further information after sub- farms, a whole range of details with regard for the onshore elements of the works mission of the consent application with its to the physical, biological and human envi- (“Deemed planning permission”). accompanying environmental information, ronments have been assessed. and to reduce the risk of disagreement Extinguishment of public rights of naviga- about impact assessment methods. This non-technical summary presents the tion will be requested under the Energy Act overall results of the assessment, and high- 2004 for the areas of seabed directly cov- Furthermore, Westermost Rough Ltd. has lights a number of issues that have been ered by the offshore structures. Safety zones endeavoured to include the general public in identified by the developer as being of key around all structures will also be requested the Environmental Impact Assessment proc- interest. in order to prevent navigational activities in ess by arranging meetings with particular those areas of the wind farm where there is groups, by organising public exhibitions and Stakeholders are encouraged to read the considered to be a safety risk. by establishing a project home page in 2008 main report and annexes to the report to giving information and receiving comments. find more detailed information on any spe- cific issues. Public Exhibitions In June 2008 Westermost Rough Ltd. car- Regulatory Consents ried out Public Exhibitions in Withernsea, A number of regulatory consents are re-

6 The Environmental The wildlife Impact Assessment and the environment

The Coast and Seabed Birds The Environmental Impact Assessment for The Westermost Rough Offshore Wind Westermost Rough Offshore Wind Farm Farm is located in an area of medium bird has included investigations into potential density, but there are important protected effects on the physical processes in the sites in the surrounding region. The key Holderness Coastal area. The assessment species in the area include Gannet, Kitti- has included effects on suspended solids, wake, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed scour effects, effects on sediment trans- Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, port, and effects on waves and tides. The Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Guillemot, different scenarios in regard to number of Razorbill and Puffin. turbines and foundation options have been taken into account. The protection of bird life has been an issue of great concern for the project and a two- The general conclusion is that the impacts year assessment has been undertaken. on the physical environment that are ex- Boat surveys have been performed from pected to occur from the construction, ope- August 2004 to July 2006 and aerial sur- ration and decommissioning activities will veys have been conducted between Sep- be negligible. Some disturbance of sedi- tember 2004 and June 2006. The surveys ment will occur as a result of the construc- cover the wind farm site and surrounding tion process but they will only be tem- areas, to obtain a good picture of the bird porary. species living and foraging at the Wester- most Rough Wind Farm site. The wind farm project would have some lo- calised impacts in the immediate vicinity of A targeted Little Gull survey was underta- the site, and some impacts such as the loss ken in 2008 to cover the birds’ movements of seabed will be permanent, but the impact at Hornsea Mere and in relation to the We- will only be minor. The impacts further away stermost Rough Wind Farm site. Terrestrial from the site are expected to be negligible. surveys at Hornsea Mere, inshore boat sur- veys and offshore boat surveys were all Noise conducted from mid-August to end of Sep- Some construction activities such as dri- tember. The surveys showed that only small ving of monopiles are quite noisy. It is not numbers of Little Gull were recorded at the certain that monopile foundations will be wind farm site, and that they do not have a used, but it is possible. Since the wind tur- preference for the site over the wider bine nearest to the coast is approximately 9 inshore and extensive offshore sea area. km away, the sound will be greatly reduced The Little Gull is therefore not considered a when it reaches the shore. key species for the Westermost Rough Wind Farm site. Noise during cable trenching onshore will be comparable to general road mainte- With regard to the impact on birds during nance work, and it will not be possible to the operational period, the assessment hear the wind turbines from the shore when has shown that for Gannet, Kittiwake, In total the impacts of the wind farm on the wind farm is operating. Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, bird species are assessed to be negligible. Great Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, The waterborne noise will occasionally be Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin the impact Marine Mammals significant during construction, but will not is minor and for Herring Gull and Sandwich The area where the Westermost affect humans. The other activities will pro- Tern negligible and not significant respec- Rough Offshore Wind Farm site is situated duce noise at negligible levels. tively. is generally a region with a low abundance

7 of marine mammals. However the common vioural impact limit (the 90dBht limit) from assessed possible impacts on the bottom seal is resident in the region, pupping on the pile-driving operation will be at appro- fauna, fish and shellfish in the affected several small exposed sandbanks south of ximately 10km from the piling location, area. The studies have shown that no spe- the Humber Estuary. Likewise other marine with the noise falling to background levels cial protected species will be affected. mammal species are regularly recorded in some 20km from the location. the Southern North Sea area e.g. harbour The remaining impacts, e.g. of electromag- porpoise, bottlenose dolphin, and grey seal. The whales, dolphins and seals may move netic fields around the cables are expected The harbour porpoise and small numbers of around in the Humber region as a result of to result in negligible impacts on the ma- common seal are considered to be resident the cumulative waterborne noise whilst rine environment. in the Southern North Sea, possibly using Westermost Rough and Humber Gateway the area for all life stages including mating, Offshore Wind Farms are being con- Navigation birthing, weaning and foraging. structed. Although in the short term this A series of studies has been undertaken of might exclude marine mammals from part the possible impact of the wind farm on The major impact on marine mammals of the Humber region, this is expected to shipping, recreational and fishing vessels from wind farms arises during the con- have only a minor effect on the overall po- and navigational operations in the struction period due to the underwater pulation of the key species. area around Westermost Rough. The main noise that is caused. The loudest noises ge- information on the baseline navigation in nerated during construction would be those Other Wildlife the area came from a 28 day maritime traf- associated with pile driving. The sound will Potential impacts on other forms of marine fic survey of the Westermost Rough site, travel in all directions from some of the pile life apart from birds and mammals have carried out using a combination of shore- locations and it is predicted that the beha- also been thoroughly studied. The studies based radar, AIS and visual observations.

Winter and summer Surveys 2008

Shipping tracks recorded during winter and summer Surveys 2008 (28 Days AIS & Radar)

8 The survey covered a winter and summer zard ranking process identified no unac- a ship’s fuel tank is considered unlikely, period to cover seasonal variations. ceptable hazards. and in the case of vessels carrying hazar- dous cargoes, e.g. a tanker or gas carrier, The study showed that the Westermost Four risk assessments were carried out to the additional safety features associated Rough wind farm will not affect the main investigate selected hazards in more detail. with these vessels would further mitigate navigation routes in the area heading to The risk assessment was based on the indi- the risk of pollution. In the case of smaller and from the Humber Estuary neither will it cative 80 x 3MW layout, which was identi- vessels such as fishing and recreational affect ships not bound for the Humber. fied as being the “realistic worst case” from craft, the worst case scenario would be a a navigational risk perspective. The overall risk of ship damage leading to foundering A Formal Safety Assessment has been collision risk level in the area was esti- of the vessel and potential loss of life. undertaken in accordance with internatio- mated to increase by approximately 1 in 51 nal and national standards. Hazards years (base case) and 1 in 46 years (future In addition to the boundary amendment of associated with the wind farm were identi- case) with the Westermost Rough Offshore the wind farm that has already been under- fied, and the associated scenarios prioriti- Wind Farm development. The majority of taken to reduce navigational impact and sed by risk level. Within each scenario, ves- the risk is associated with fishing vessel risks, a considerable number of mitigation sel types were considered separately to collisions. measures are considered, including deploy- ensure that risk levels were assessed for ment of navigation marking, buoys, safety each type and appropriate control options Based on the available research, it is consi- zones, oil spill response plan and a marine identified on a type-specific basis, e.g. risk dered that a collision involving a larger ship coordinator on site. Further hazard/risk as- control measures for fishing vessels differ is likely to result in collapse of a turbine sessment workshops will also be carried from those for commercial ships. The ha- with limited damage to the ship. Breach of out as part of the project planning process

NESFC Shellfish

NESFC shellfish permit catch returns by ICES sub-rectangle - 2006 & 2007

9 to help ensure that the proposed activities vity is not significant in the area. All were The main ports potentially affected would are carried out safely. recorded outside the 12-mile limit. be Withernsea and Hornsea, where 99.5 % of the value of landings in 2007 originated Commercial Fishery From north of Hornsea to Withernsea in the from the wind farm site and the sur- Westermost Rough Offshore Wind Farm will south, there has been an increase in rounding area. For Bridlington the total be situated within fishing area 360F, for fishing activity within the 6-mile limit, and potting landings in 2007 account for which fisheries statistics are available from significantly less activity recorded outside 59.6%. However the Withernsea and Horn- the International Council for the Explora- the 6-mile limit. This increase is mainly due sea vessels will only be excluded from up to tion of the Sea (ICES). The majority of the to larger vessels up to 14m in length 5.4% of their primary potting area and landings are from potting vessels below coming to work within the 6-mile limit. around 3% for Bridlington-based vessels. 15m in length with lobster and crabs as principal species. The wind farm will thus During the construction phase, only con- The nearby Humber Gateway Offshore lie within an important potting area with struction vessels will have access to the Wind Farm does not fall within the primary very little fishing activity in the area by ves- wind farm site. This is in line with normal potting fishing ground and radar surveys sels using other fishing methods. offshore practice. Permission will be sought have shown that vessels fishing the We- to establish safety zones of 50m around stermost Rough area do not generally ope- A total of nine vessels were recorded within each structure within the wind farm site rate as far south as the Humber Gateway the boundaries of the proposed wind farm from the beginning of construction to the site. It is therefore reasonable to expect during 2005-2007. Of these, seven were end of decommissioning. With the excep- that no significant cumulative impacts will identified as potting vessels and two as tion of these exclusion zones it is anticipa- occur in respect of increased steaming ti- trawlers. The identified foreign vessels ted that potting vessels will continue to be mes and interference with fishing activities were almost exclusively Dutch, French and able to operate within the area of the wind during the construction/decommissioning Belgian, although the foreign fishing acti- farm. or operational phases.

View from Spurn Head Visualisation

10 Taking all potential impacts and proposed The significance of effects of the wind farm two chosen layout options consisting of ei- mitigation measures into consideration, development upon archaeological remains ther 80 3MW turbines with a blade tip the significance of the residual impacts has been assessed taking into account the height of 112m above MHWS or 35 7MW caused by the construction/decommissio- severity of the planned impact on the turbines with a blade tip height of 172m ning and operational phases on commercial known and potential archaeology. Each above MHWS were both assessed. fishing in the area relevant to the Wester- identified archaeological feature or site has most Rough Offshore Wind Farm are consi- been appraised for its importance on a A total of 9 viewpoints within a 35km study dered to be negligible to moderate. scale of local, regional, national or interna- area around the proposed wind farm site tional importance, and the scale of magni- were agreed with the local council and Na- Cultural Heritage tude of the impact as a result of the de- tural England. Within the study area, four Records of wrecks and seabed obstructions velopment. Regional Seascape Units (RSU) have been within the study area were collected using identified. The study area embraces a long information provided by the many relevant Based on the detailed mitigation measures, linear and elevated stretch of coastline, sources ( Hydrographic Of- the residual impacts from the development from the steep chalk cliffs of the Flam- fice, National Monuments Record etc.) and of Westermost Rough Offshore Wind Farm borough Head peninsula in the north, to the geophysical survey. on cultural heritage may be considered sandbanks of the Spurn Head Peninsula negligible. and the Humber Estuary in the south. Com- The study area contains 61 geophysical puter-generated visibility plans, photomon- anomalies, two of which have been identi- Seascape and Visual Impacts tages, images, and wireframe outlines were fied as known wrecks in the area of the The Westermost Rough Offshore Wind prepared from all of the viewpoints. wind farm, and a further two anomalies Farm will be located approximately 8km that have been identified as potential from the coastline of East Yorkshire at The assessment included potential for se- wrecks. Withernsea, covering an area of 3km2. The ascape and visual effects during the con-

11 struction, operational and decommissio- scure views of the proposed wind farm, it development, direct physical effects will be ning phase of the wind farm. During will still inhibit views of the development limited for the majority of the seascape re- construction and decommissioning the as- making it more visually recessive within the source. Even though the proposed wind sessment concluded that there would be wider seascape. farm will be located within the Holderness temporary, short term visual effects on Peninsula RSU, it will not be seen to be especially the Holderness Peninsula RSU An assessment of the potential effects for uncharacteristic, given the character of the but also on the associated visual receptors local residents, travellers through the area existing baseline which already includes and general visual amenity. However the and tourists was undertaken. The assess- wind turbines. The general simplicity and significance of the visual effects was asses- ment concluded that during the operational open scale of the east Yorkshire and north sed to be minor. During the decommissio- phase of the wind farm, the visual effects Lincolnshire coastline also suggests that ning phase the visual impact will be similar will be limited by the elevated coastal edge effects will not sit uncomfortably within to those of the construction phase and of of the Holderness Peninsula and the Hum- their setting given the existing baseline relative insignificance as there is an ber Estuary and the impact will be no more character. existing baseline of marine activity in the than moderate for the users of the coastal area. The operational phase will have the areas. The elevated nature of the nearest coastline most significant impact due to the duration will positively assist in screening/filtering of the wind farm, e.g. 20 years. Likewise the impact on local residents is li- the visibility from the majority of the study mited as the coastal influence will restrict area, where a combination of distance, ori- Climate and the day-to-day weather pat- views. The nearest residential properties in entation, subtle variations in land form and terns will combine to reduce the number of Withernsea and just to the north, however, the presence of existing turbines at Out days upon which views of the Westermost will experience a visual effect of moderate Newton will reduce the extent of the effect. Rough Wind Farm will be available from the to major significance, due to clear seaward The visual effects will therefore be greatest coastline and hinterland. Moreover, even views within this area. when seen from the Holderness coastline, where poorer visibility does not wholly ob- Given the offshore location of the proposed with the magnitude and extent of the visual

12 effects being reduced where the proposed ‘in planning’ which includes the Humber gramme with the MOD. It is expected that a wind farm will be seen to shift from being Gateway (Round 2 offshore) and the T101 radar will be installed at Staxton the main focus of view from the coast - as onshore wind farm at Burton Pidsea. All lie Wold, and a T102 radar at Trimingham. from Withernsea - to occupying a more pe- within the 35km study area. With respect to civil aviation, an important ripheral or oblique position within the field The character of the Humber Estuary and Raytheon ASR23 radar is situated at Cla- of view from the remaining viewpoints e.g. Holderness Peninsula would inevitably xby, which might suffer from interference at Spurn Head, Hornsea, Bridlington, Flam- change should all or the majority of the from Westermost Rough. NERL own and borough Head, Halsham and Donna Nook. proposed developments be constructed. operate this radar. The number and variety of built elements There will also be some isolated significant also sited intermittently along the Holder- effects on the nearest coastal receptors. The Greater Wash developers are investiga- ness coastline, including the developed However the Westermost Rough Offshore ting whether the TPS77 radar will mitigate foreshore areas, cliff-top holiday parks and Wind Farm will only contribute to a minor problems arising from the wind farms in the other prominent features, will also help to to moderate cumulative effect. This inclu- Greater Wash area. The results of this inve- accommodate the visual profile of the pro- des the majority of the coastal margins of stigation will be available before the end of posed development further. The overall vi- east Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire. 2009, and this may provide generic soluti- sual effect is therefore considered to be ons for the wind farms covered by the Tri- moderate to minor, with only localised and Radar mingham radar. Once this has been estab- isolated areas of more significant effect. The Greater Wash Area is generally sensi- lished, solutions could be sought for the tive with regard to radar interference. There Westermost Rough project which, as menti- The assessment of cumulative impacts in- are two air defence radar facilities operated oned above, is covered by the Staxton Wold cluded the operational wind farms at Out by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in the radar. Newton and Hull Waste Water Treatment area: Trimingham and Staxton Wold. These Works, the consented wind farm at Lisset are currently equipped with the T93 radar, Airfield (onshore) and those registered as but are subject to a replacement pro-

13 Key species As Summary of Species VOR1 Cumulative Impacts Gannet International

Kittiwake International

Common Gull Regional Westermost Rough is located in the Greater Commercial Fishing Lesser Black- Regional Wash area where several other wind farms The Humber Gateway does not lie within backed Gull are also in the planning process, consented the primary potting fishing grounds, and but not yet built, under construction or from radar surveys it is clear that vessels Herring Gull National operation. In the Northern Wash or the fishing the Westermost Rough area do not Great Black- Regional Yorkshire Coast area, only Humber Gate- generally operate as far south as the Hum- backed Gull way, also in the planning process, is lo- ber Gateway site. It is therefore reasonable Sandwich Tern International cated together with Westermost Rough. to expect that no significant cumulative im- Common Tern Regional However several onshore wind farm pro- pacts will occur in respect of increased jects are located in this area. steaming times and interference with Guillemot International fishing activities during the construction, Razorbill International In addition to the wind farms, pipe- decommissioning or operational phases. lines and cables together with dredging Puffin International areas and soil disposal sites are also either Landscape, Seascape and Visual Impact existing or proposed in the area. Although the character of the Humber Estuary and Holderness Peninsula would Developers of potential sites in the Greater inevitably change should all or the majority Wash have commissioned an initial scoping of the proposed wind farm developments assessment of potential cumulative (and be constructed, Westermost Rough typi- in-combination) effects in this area. It iden- cally will contribute only to a Minor to Mo- tified potential cumulative effects under derate cumulative effect and there will be the receptor headings navigation and ship- some significant isolated effects on the ne- ping, commercial fisheries, natural fishery arest coastal receptors. resource, ornithology, cetaceans, landscape and visual character and socio-economic Radar effects. Special attention is here given to The radar issue for the Greater Wash Stra- the Yorkshire Coast only, due to the spatial tegic Area is dealt with as a generic issue separation of the offshore wind farms in the rather than as site-specific issues for each Greater Wash. individual wind farm proposed within the area. All potential cumulative impacts have been analysed, and the most important will be The considerable numbers of wind turbines mentioned here. suggested for the Greater Wash Strategic Area are likely to result in an unacceptable Birds level of clutter on the MoD and NERL radar During scoping of the assessment, Natural screens. In terms of the Greater Wash area, England requested detailed cumulative BWEA has also facilitated discussions with collision risk estimates for key bird spe- MOD and the Greater Wash developers in cies. Collision risk estimates were available order to investigate whether it is possible for 9 of the 16 proposed, consented and to solve the radar issue with a regional operational offshore wind farms along the solution. East Coast. The assessment was underta- ken for the following key species: Gannet, In parallel to this activity, BWEA has led the Kittiwake, Common Gull, Lesser Black- formation of a central Aviation Fund, the backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black- aim of which is to invest in research and backed Gull, Common Tern, Guillemot, development projects to solve en-route air Razorbill and Puffin. The cumulative colli- traffic control and air defence radar issues. sion risk estimates concluded that the im- It is likely that significant investment will pacts on these key species will not be sig- be required to resolve the aviation objec- nificant. tions for wind farm development in the UK.

14 ssessment

GB breeding Approximate % Local popula- Importance of Disturbance/ Habitat loss Collision risk Barrier effects Overall risk population of global popu- tion (pairs) WMR site4 Displacement (pairs) 2 lation3

259,311 - 2,552 Local Minor Negligible Minor Negligible Minor

415,995 8% 42,659 Local Negligible Negligible Minor Negligible Minor

48,000 7% 1 Local Negligible Negligible Minor Negligible Minor

117,000 37% 2 Local Negligible Negligible Minor Negligible Minor

149,500 - - Local Negligible Negligible Negligible Negligible Negligible

19,300 11% - Local Negligible Negligible Minor Negligible Minor

14,252 7% - Local Negligible Negligible Negligible Negligible Negligible

14,497 2% 7 Local Minor Negligible Minor Negligible Minor

1,559,484 12% 46,685 Regional Minor Negligible Negligible Negligible Minor

216,087 18% 8,614 Regional Minor Negligible Negligible Negligible Minor

600,751 10% 2,650 Local Minor Negligible Negligible Negligible Minor

*1 Valued Ornithological receptor / conservation value. *2 Great Britain and Ireland breeding population in pairs. *3 Population counts registered at Flamborough Head and Bempton Cliffs SPA or North Yorkshire and Humberside in pairs. *4 Assessment based on peak survey counts.

15 Summary of Onshore Environmental Impact Assessment

The proposed onshore cable route is 14,7km Surface water and flooding the cable route and substation is consid- and comes a shore just north of Tunstall A number of surface water features are en- ered to be negligible to minor. where it continues in a westerly direction countered directly by the route, mainly passing through Burton Pidsea and north of comprising drains and small channels. In Traffic Burstwick towards Hedon. North of Hedon addition two major drains (Burstwick and Most of the construction related traffic will the route connects to a proposed substation Preston New Drain) will be crossed. be outside peak hours and will not impact site at Staithes Road in Salt End. local traffic during construction of the The shoreline at Tunstall is indicated as cable route and substation. In order to establish the environmental being a Zone 3 flood area, and the pro- baseline a desk-based review of published posed cable route passes through three Cultural Heritage documents was undertaken. Furthermore a other Zone 3 areas including the substation The proposed cable route passes through scoping process was undertaken in Sep- site. The area of the substation is shown to 31 archaeological sites where the signifi- tember 2003 involving all statutory parties be protected by flood defences. cance of impact is assessed to vary from and key representatives of other interested negligible to moderate. Further geophysical stakeholders. Biological environment surveys will be undertaken along the cable The proposed cable route does not pass corridor prior to construction. In addition Landfills and Contaminated land through any statutory designated sites. all groundworks during construction will be No landfills have been identified within Three non-statutory sites have been identi- subject to an archaeological watching brief. 1km of the cable route. However, an area to fied known as Sites of Importance for Na- the north of the cable route has been iden- ture Conservation (SINCs). In addition the Conclusion tified as the location of a Waste Transfer cliffs close to landfall at Tunstall are desig- Westermost Rough Offshore Wind Farm Site. No contaminated land has been iden- nated as Maritime Cliff and Slope habitat. has carried out an assessment of the envi- tified within 5km of the route but some po- The impacts on the SINCs and the Mari- ronmental impacts of the proposed project tential issues have been identified e.g. time Cliff and Slope habitat are considered in accordance with EU and UK regulations, ponds, slurry pond, lagoons and sheep to be minor. and has extensively consulted statutory dips, gas works, substations, a depot and non-statutory bodies, interested par- and a motor racing track. Eight of these Based on an extended Phase 1 Habitat Sur- ties and the public. The findings have been sites are located directly on the proposed vey and walkover for protected species the presented in a technical report, the Envi- cable line or the substation site. impact on vegetation and fauna for both ronmental Statement, which includes a number of detailed annexes.

The proposed The preparatory work has included propos- als for measures to mitigate any important Onshore cable route negative impacts of the development. DONG Energy has further made commit- ment to establish overall plans for quality, health, safety and environmental manage- ment. This will ensure that the windfarm, during construction, operation and decom- missioning, will be conducted in a respon- sible manner.

Westermost Rough Offshore Wind Farm offers strong positive benefits to British society and will assist Great Britain in ful- filling national ambitions to install 33 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2020. There could be some limited negative envi- ronmental impacts, but a balanced evalua- tion based on the Environmental Statement favours construction of Westermost Rough Offshore Wind Farm.

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