Penderfyniad ar yr Apêl Appeal Decision Gwrandawiad a gynhaliwyd ar 26/03 & 08/04/13 Hearing held on 26/03 & 08/04/13 Ymweliad â safle a wnaed ar 08/04/13 Site visit made on 08/04/13 gan Alwyn B Nixon BSc(Hons) MRTPI by Alwyn B Nixon BSc(Hons) MRTPI Arolygydd a benodir gan Weinidogion Cymru an Inspector appointed by the Welsh Ministers Dyddiad: 24/05/13 Date: 24/05/13 Appeal Ref: APP/F6915/A/12/2184131 Site address: Newton Down, Stormy Lane, Porthcawl The Welsh Ministers have transferred the authority to decide this appeal to me as the appointed Inspector. The appeal is made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 against a failure to give notice within the prescribed period of a decision on an application for planning permission. The appeal is made by Mr Richard Hadwin for Renewable Energy Partnerships Ltd against Bridgend County Borough Council. The application Ref P/12/368/FUL, is dated 15 May 2012. The development proposed is erection of two wind turbines with a maximum height to blade tip of 125m together with vehicular access, site tracks, substation and compound, anemometer mast, visitor facility and associated infrastructure, crane pads and external transformers. Decision 1. The appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted for erection of two wind turbines with a maximum height to blade tip of 125m together with vehicular access, site tracks, substation and compound, anemometer mast, visitor facility and associated infrastructure, crane pads and external transformers at Newton Down, Stormy Lane, Porthcawl in accordance with the terms of the application, Ref P/12/368/FUL, dated 15 May 2012, and the plans submitted with it, subject to the conditions set out in the schedule attached to this decision. Procedural Matters 2. After the appeal was lodged the Council formally considered its stance in relation to the proposal. It determined that, had no appeal against non-determination been lodged, it would have refused planning permission. The reasons for taking such a decision would have been that the turbines, by virtue of their size scale and appearance, would be an incongruous and dominating feature within the landscape and surrounding area and, in themselves and cumulatively in combination with the adjacent proposed Stormy Down wind turbine, would be detrimental to visual amenity and to the settings of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast and the Merthyr Mawr, Kenfig and Margam Burrows Historic Landscape. In addition, the Council considered that insufficient information had been submitted with the application to adequately assess the impact of the development on nearby residential dwellings in terms of shadow flicker. These matters form the basis of its opposition to the development. 3. The application was accompanied by an Environmental Statement (ES) and various supporting technical assessments and statements. I have taken the environmental www.planningportal.gov.uk/planninginspectorate Appeal Decision APP/F6915/A/12/2184131 information in the ES and the supporting technical and other information into account in arriving at my decision. 4. At the hearing it was confirmed that the application drawings, on which my decision is based, are those presented at Figs 1.2; 5.1; 5.2; 5.3; 5.4; 5.5; 5.6; 5.7; 5.8 and 5.9 of the ES (Volume 3: Figures). 5. As part of the hearing proceedings on 8 April 2013 I undertook an inspection of the site, the surrounding environs and various locations in the wider area, accompanied by representatives for the appellant, the Council and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) (formerly Countryside Council for Wales (CCW)). The tour of inspection included viewings from a range of private properties, residential neighbourhoods and public places, attended also by various individual objectors and by a local ward Councillor. In addition, I carried out further inspections of the area on an unaccompanied basis and also viewed recently- erected turbines of a comparable size to the appeal proposal at Fforch Nest (Bridgend/Rhondda Cynon Taff). 6. For part of the duration of my accompanied inspections a marker balloon was in place close to the proposed location of turbine 1. This had been erected on behalf of a nearby objector to the proposal, without the prior knowledge of the main parties. However, the operator of the marker balloon was present, and I, together with the appellant and the Council representative present, had the opportunity to speak with the operator and verify the basis of the contractual arrangements and the height at which it was being flown. I have also been supplied with a copy of the relevant Civil Aviation Authority permission certificate for the balloon, which states that the balloon shall not be flown above 410 feet (ie 125m) above ground level. 7. The balloon was moored in a position approximately 60 m south of the proposed location of turbine 1. Moreover, it was evident that the position of the balloon in the air (and consequently its exact height above ground level also) varied according to wind speed and direction at any given time. Nonetheless, I consider that the presence of the balloon offered a useful indication of the maximum blade tip height of turbine 1 and the position and overall height of the turbine in the landscape. As such, I have had regard to this, alongside the other information available to me and subject to the caveat above concerning balloon position variability, in assessing the visual impact of the development. Main issues 8. The main issues in this appeal concern the effect of the proposed development on the landscape, including its effect on nearby designated landscapes, and its effect on visual amenity. Further issues are whether the proposal would harm living conditions by way of shadow flicker or noise effects. Reasons Summary of proposal and site location 9. The site occupies part of a ridge of higher ground inland (north-east) of Porthcawl and south-west of the A48 west of Bridgend and south of the M4. The site and its immediate environs comprise agricultural land, part of which was formerly a WWII airfield; a plantation of trees and a shelter belt also occupy some of the higher ground. The area surrounding the site is predominantly agricultural, although to the north of the site there are industrial developments centred on the former hangar buildings and areas of quarrying. The industrial complex includes a solar array and www.planningportal.gov.uk/planninginspectorate 2 Appeal Decision APP/F6915/A/12/2184131 there is also an extant permission for an anaerobic digestor. There are scattered residential properties in the surrounding area, the nearest of which are approximately 600 m from one or other of the two turbine locations. 10. The development comprises two three-bladed 2.5 MW turbines with an indicative hub centre-line height of 80 m and vertical blade tip height not exceeding 125 m. The turbines would be sited about 700 m apart, to the north (turbine 2) and south (turbine 1) of the plantation of trees. An 80 m high anemometer mast would also be erected further to the west, about 500 m from turbine 2 and 600 m from turbine 1. The proposal also includes ancillary development comprising access tracks, construction pads, underground cabling and substation. A small visitor and interpretation centre is also proposed, utilising an existing agricultural building and pen already present on the site. Access to the development would be taken from two points on Stormy Lane. 11. The edge of the built-up area of Porthcawl is about 2.5 km from the site, with the seafront area being about 4 km distant. The mainly residential area of Newton, an outlier to the east of Porthcawl, is around 1.5 km from the site. The western end of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast designation includes Merthyr Mawr Warren and Newton Burrows and the clifftop areas running south-east from Ogmore by Sea past Southerndown. The area of Merthyr Mawr Warren also forms part of the Merthyr Mawr, Kenfig and Margam Burrows historic landscape area. Merthyr Mawr Warren occupies an area between 1.5 and 3.5 km from the southern proposed turbine; at its closest the Kenfig and Margam Burrows part of the registered historic landscape is about 4 km west of the the northern turbine site. The Wales coast path follows the shore line along the south-west edge of Merthyr Mawr Warren and the edge of Newton Burrows. Policy context 12. National policy in relation to renewable energy developments is contained within Planning Policy Wales edition 5 (PPW5) and Technical Advice Note (TAN) 8: Renewable Energy. These policy documents reflect a UK target of 15% of energy from renewables by 2020 and a Welsh government target of 2GW of installed onshore wind generation capacity by 2015/20171. TAN 8 recognizes that large scale (over 25 MW) wind developments will make the greatest contribution to meeting these targets, and advises that such developments should be concentrated into particular defined Strategic Search Areas (SSAs). However, TAN 8 also indicates that local planning authorities should, through their development plan policies and when considering individual planning applications, encourage smaller community-based windfarm scheme is (generally less than 5 MW). TAN 8 suggests that this could be done through local criteria that would determine the acceptability of such schemes and define in more detail what is meant by "smaller" and "community-based". TAN 8 recognizes that outside SSAs there is a balance to be struck between the desirability of renewable energy and landscape protection (paragraph 2.13). Support is offered to local planning authorities wishing to introduce policies in their development plans that restrict almost all wind energy developments larger than 5 MW to within SSAs and urban/industrial brownfield sites.