ENVIRONMENT AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES COMMITTEE: 28 AUGUST 2012 CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF THE ONSHORE COMPONENT OF THE 40MW LEWIS WAVE ARRAY (REF NO 12/00298/PPP) Report by Director of Development PURPOSE OF REPORT This is a Major planning application with an Environmental Statement and therefore this matter can not be dealt with under delegated powers and it is presented to the Comhairle for a decision. COMPETENCE 1.1 There are no legal, financial or other constraints to the recommendations being implemented. SUMMARY 2.1 A planning application in principle has been received for the construction and operation of the onshore component of a 40MW Oyster Wave Farm at Shader on the north-west coast of Lewis. It will have a hydro-electric power station which will include one or more buildings and ancillary equipment, a laydown area, a parking area, pipelines connecting the power station to the offshore Oyster devices, upgrades to the existing access track and an extension to the access track. An Environmental Statement (ES) has been submitted in support of the application. 2.2 The Report relates to the terrestrial element (above mean low water mark) only of the proposed development. The consultation for the Section 36 application for the works below the high water mark has already taken place and was the subject of a Report to the Environment and Protective Services Committee in June 2012. 2.3 The Report summarises the ES; includes consultees’ comments received on the ES; it offers a conclusion and recommends approval of the application subject to the Conditions set out in Appendix 1 to the Report, including the conclusion of a Planning Agreement. 2.4 Copies of the Non-Technical Summary of the ES will be made available in the Members’ lounge prior to the meeting of the Environment and Protective Services Committee on 28 August 2012. RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 It is recommended that the: a) application be APPROVED subject to the Conditions shown in Appendix 1 to the Report and subject to the conclusion of a Planning Agreement; and b) Chief Executive be authorised to determine with Lewis Wave Power Ltd and other relevant land interests a Planning Agreement concerning the development. Contact Officer Hannah Morrison Telephone 01870 604990 Email: [email protected] Appendices 1 Schedule of proposed Conditions 2 Location Plan 3 Indicative Site Layout 4 Indicative illustration of the array layout Figure 5.6 5 Combined ZTV for Offshore & Onshore Development (Vol 3 Technical Appendices Fig 14.5) 6 Cumulative Zone of Theoretical Visibility [ZTV] (Vol 3 Technical Appendices Fig 14.13 7 Consutlation response from SNH 8 Consultation response from Scottish Water 9 Consultation response from Ness Community Council 10 Additional information provided by Aquamarine Power. 11 Response by Aquamarine Power to Ness Community Councils comments BACKGROUND 4.1 In June 2012, Lewis Wave Power Limited (LWP) submitted a planning application for planning permission in principle (PPP) for the construction and operation of the onshore component of a 40MW Oyster Wave Farm. The proposal will include a hydro-electric power station which will include one or more buildings and ancillary equipment, a laydown area, a parking area, pipelines connecting the power station to the offshore oyster devices, upgrades to the existing access track and an extension to the access track. 4.2 Lewis Wave Power, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Edinburgh based Aquamarine Power Limited. The Consultation on the Section 36 Consent (which dealt with the development below the high water mark) was Reported to the Environment and Protective Services Committee in June 2012. 4.3 The land on which onshore elements of the project will be located is owned by the Galson Estate Trust. The Galson Estate Trust covers an area of 56,000 acres and is a community owned estate managed by the Galson Estate Trust. An agreement has been made with the Galson Estate Trust to construct, operate and maintain the 40MW Oyster wave farm on land under their ownership. 4.4 The Report relates to the development of the proposed Lewis Wave Array which is located on shore, at Lower Shader on the northwest coast of Lewis. The Report relates purely to the elements of the development that lie above the low water mark. 4.5 Accompanying the current application, LWP have included an Environmental Statement which is comprised of 3 parts: • Non-technical Summary: Volume 1; • Environmental Statement: Volume 2; • Appendices: Volume 3. 4.6 In order to properly consider all relevant matters the Report is structured as follows: Section 4 Background; Section 5 Description of the Project; Section 6 Summary of Environmental Statement; Section 7 External Consultation Responses; Section 8 Internal Consultation Responses; Section 9 Representations; Section 10 Comments from Applicant; Section 11 Policy Context; Section 12 Development Plan – Planning Policy Considerations; Section 13 Material Planning Considerations; Section 14 Issues raised through Representation; and Section 15 Conclusion. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 5.1 Lewis Wave Power proposes to develop a wave energy array off the north-west coast of the Isle of Lewis. The array will have a generation capacity of up to 40MW of renewable power for export to the national grid. 5.2 The Report assesses the onshore development which will support the offshore oyster wave energy array. The proposal will include a hydro-electric power station which will include one or more buildings and ancillary equipment, a laydown area, a parking area, pipelines connecting the power station to the offshore oyster devices, upgrades to the existing access track and extension to the access track. 5.3 The onshore components of the development will be located within an area of grassland which is located to the west of the main public road (A857) that runs up the west coast of Lewis. The details of the proposal so far as defined in the application for PPP are described below. 5.4 The method used for laying the pipeline will determine the size of the development site. If surface laid pipes are used then the maximum site development will be 92,879m². If the pipes are installed using the horizontal directionally drilled method the maximum site area will be 94,679m². The proposed location and layout of the development are shown on the location plan Appendix 2. 5.5 The west coast of Lewis is very exposed often experiencing strong onshore winds and the environment here reflects this. There are few trees, and vegetation is characteristically stunted. The underlying geology is Lewisian Gneiss, much of which is overlain with a thick layer of peat. The coastline is generally linear with a few small bays and headlands; gently sloping grasslands and heath lead up to a hinterland which is relatively flat in nature in comparison to southern parts of Lewis and the neighbouring Island of Harris. Hydro Electric Power Station 5.6 A number of structures and buildings will be constructed within a compound of approximately 10,000m² (1 hectare). An illustrative plan of the compound is attached at Appendix 3. The maximum height of any of these structures will be 8m. As with offshore construction the onshore construction will be built in phases, with one building to house Phase 1 (3MW) built in the first year (Onshore Phase 1) followed by a large building for Phases 2 to 4 (37MW) (Onshore Phase 2). It is envisaged that the Phase 1 building will be 15m wide by 35m long and the Phase 2 building will be 25m wide by 50m long. 5.7 In addition to the hydro-electric power station, there will be an area of approximately 6000m² adjacent to the compound that will be used as a temporary construction area and is therefore considered to be part of the construction footprint. This area will be used to store vehicles and materials during construction. Access Road 5.8 In order to allow construction of the onshore components of the development an access road will be built which will connect the construction site to the A857. The access road will follow an existing minor road for 260m until the point at which the road bends to the west. The access road will be continued in a north westerly direction for approximately 543m by upgrading and widening of an existing track until the point at which the track turns west away from the construction area. After this point a new access road approximately 530m in length will be built to the construction site. The construction zone for the access track will be between 8 and 11m across, with the final access road approximately 4m across, allowing for between 2 and 3.5m of construction buffer either side of the road. 5.9 A track will also be constructed which will be used to transport vehicles from the compound to either the point at which the pipelines make landfall in the surface laid option or up to two separate locations where the drilling rigs would be located in the HDD option. Surface laid pipelines 5.10 There are two proposed methods of connecting the pipelines from the Oyster devices to the shore. These are surface laid and ‘horizontally directionally drilled’ (HDD). If shore pipelines are surface laid they will either be bought to a common landing area as illustrated in Appendix 4 or will come onshore at between two and eight separate locations. Each pipeline will have a maximum construction corridor of 20m within the rough grazing, taking a minimum footprint of 3200m² (two pipes) and maximum 58400m² (eight pipes). A short track, 5m wide (not including construction buffer) will also be constructed from the compound area to the shore for plant to access the intertidal area, taking minimum 1600m² and maximum 4600m² of the rough grazing.