Date: 23/03/2011 Our ref: NW10/11 CON10699 Your ref: 10/01151/FUL Lancaster City Council Regeneration and Policy Development Management Team Hornbeam House Crewe Business Park PO Box 4 Electra Way Town Hall Crewe Lancaster LA1 1QR Cheshire CW1 6GJ T 0300 060 2568 BY EMAIL ONLY Dear Sir or Madam Renewable energy project comprising the erection of 13 wind turbine generators, each with a maximum height of 126.5 metres, together with associated access track, hard standing areas, control and substation building, borrow pits, meteorological mast and temporary construction and site storage compounds on Claughton Moor and Whit Moor near Lancaster Thank you for your consultation on the above dated and received 15 November 2010. The delay in responding is due to our request for further information relating to ecology, in our email dated 17 February 2011 Natural England is a non-departmental public body. Our statutory purpose is to ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced, and managed for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing to sustainable development. This major development is within the Forest of Bowland and Pendle Hill Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Natural England objects to the application to erect 13 turbines and associated infrastructure including access tracks on Claughton and Whit Moor within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Natural England’s objection is on the grounds that: The proposed development, both in its own right, and as a major extension to the existing Caton Moor wind farm, would have a significant adverse impact on the natural beauty and distinctive qualities of the Forest of Bowland and Pendle Hill AONB which would clearly conflict with the purposes of designation to such an extent that the objectives of designation would be compromised. We do not believe that the significant adverse residual landscape and visual effects could be adequately addressed by mitigation measures. The proposed development would result in an unacceptable loss of public benefit through the substantial reduction in tranquillity and integrity of landscape character of a large part of the AONB which currently offers a high quality and accessible recreational experience through well established routes and viewpoints, and more recent Open Access land under the CROW Act 2000. We consider that the turbines would dominate their surroundings within and beyond the AONB to such an extent that visitors and residents would have limited options for avoidance of effects should they so wish, and mitigation would not be effective. Page 1 of 13 Please send consultations for the North West Region via email to: [email protected] North West Planning, Natural England, Hornbeam House, Crewe Business Park, Electra Way, Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 6GJ The numerous revisions of the Environmental Statement (ES) produced for this scheme show much variation in information relating to the baseline assessment, details of surveys and assessment of impacts. This has made the overall assessment of the ES increasingly difficult, and we have particular concerns about the level of accuracy merited to the submitted version. This lack of confidence in the ES and insufficient information in the report gives Natural England no alternative but to retain our earlier objection on the grounds of adverse effects on the natural environment. Detailed comments are set out in the appendix to this letter. Our conclusions do not depend on technicalities but on a fundamental view that major development is inappropriate in the proposed location, for which the ES already provides ample proof of the effects, however we believe that the effects identified in the ES have been significantly downplayed or underestimated. We conclude that the statutory planning framework is sound in terms of national, regional and local policy. As such, the protective nature of planning policy could not allow the scheme, which should be regarded as major development, to be approved other than in the most exceptional circumstances. We believe that the case for such exceptional circumstance has not been made for this scheme. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require further clarification. Queries on landscape aspects should be addressed to Ruth Benson ([email protected]. Tel: 0300 060 0214) and queries on nature conservation matters should be addressed to Pin Dhillon-Downey ([email protected] Tel: 0300 060 0003). Yours faithfully, Ruth Wearing NW Sustainable Land Use Delivery Leader Regional Advocacy and Partnerships Team Direct dial: 0300 060 2568 Email: [email protected] Page 2 of 13 Please send consultations for the North West Region via email to: [email protected] North West Planning, Natural England, Hornbeam House, Crewe Business Park, Electra Way, Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 6GJ Appendix Landscape Our objection, in terms of landscape, is on the same grounds as our objection to the application to erect 20 turbines on the same site, details of which were set out in our letter of 17th February 2010. In summary, we objected to the 20 turbine scheme on the following grounds: The proposals would conflict with the purposes of designation of the AONB, in terms of its natural beauty and distinctive qualities. It would not be possible to sufficiently mitigate against the loss of public benefit associated with the AONB (i.e. recreational experience) that would result from the proposals. It was not possible to ascertain whether the potential adverse effects on ecology and natural conservation could be adequately addressed by mitigation measures. Natural England is the Government’s statutory adviser on the conservation of England’s landscape and on the promotion of access to the countryside and open space for recreation, with statutory powers and duties to support the conservation and enhancement of protected landscapes. We believe that these landscapes play a key role in the conservation, enhancement and delivery of the sustainable use and management of England’s natural environment. Natural England recognises that mitigation of climate change is essential to secure the future of the natural environment and supports measures to increase the amount of energy generated from renewable resources in appropriate locations. However national planning policy supports renewable energy project in protected landscapes only where it can be demonstrated that the objectives of designation will not be compromised by the proposed development. The current scheme of 13 x 3 MW turbines each 126.5 m high is a revised version of the previous scheme with 20 x 2.5 MW turbines each 126.5 m high. The proposed turbines, though fewer in number, have an improved design with more slender tower and longer blades, and the expected output per turbine is higher. Nevertheless, they still constitute a major development, and the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA), which we have compared with the LVIA for the previous scheme, has shown that there will still be substantial adverse impacts over the a zone of theoretical visibility (ZTV) of very similar extent. Site selection and the existing Caton Moor wind farm Site selection is discussed in Chapter 3 of the ES. As before, we fail to understand why the Claughton Moor site was not filtered out at an early stage. Section 3.4 (Site selection evaluation of Claughton Moor) assesses acceptability of the site against a range of criteria. In relation to criterion 9 ‘National, Regional and Local policy’; criterion 11 ‘Landscape sensitivity’; criterion 13 ‘Nationally Designated Areas’, and criterion 16 ‘Visual Impact Consideration (likely to have visual impact on views in to the AONB from areas to the north of the site)’, Claughton Moor is assessed as having moderate acceptability. We feel that for these criteria a more realistic assessment would have been poor acceptability. The conclusions of the Site Selection chapter again confirm the developer’s emphasis on the technical aspects of electricity regeneration and demonstrate that very little weight was given to the AONB and landscape considerations. Based on the Environmental Statement Sections 3, 7 and the Non-Technical Summary, our reasons for believing that the objectives of the designation will still be compromised, and not outweighed by the benefits, are set out below. Page 3 of 13 Please send consultations for the North West Region via email to: [email protected] North West Planning, Natural England, Hornbeam House, Crewe Business Park, Electra Way, Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 6GJ Effects on the natural beauty and distinctive qualities of the Forest of Bowland and Pendle Hill AONB The ES has still not addressed the effects of the scheme on the special qualities of the AONB which led to its designation. Since the application for the 20 turbine scheme, Natural England has published its guidance ‘Making space for renewable energy: assessing on-shore wind energy development, 2010’, though this has not been referred to. The Natural England guidance states on page 17 that ‘The process of assessment and judgement (for protected landscapes) is the same as for non-designated areas: the difference arises from taking into account the value society places on the special qualities of these areas and the additional determinative test of assessing whether major development is likely to compromise the objectives of designation’. It also states that ‘The scale of development is a key factor when assessing the degree that wind energy can be accommodated within a protected landscape’. The guidance also states that ‘cumulative impacts are important considerations in respect of the setting of protected landscapes’. In this case the combined Claughton Moor and Caton Moor wind farms would dominate a large part of both the protected area and its setting, and would affect perceptions of the Forest of Bowland character when seen from the other areas of protected landscape which are intervisible - the Arnside and Silverdale AONB, the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Lake District National Park, and their proposed extensions.