EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE: 8 SEPTEMBER 2017 15/0004/S36 – 16 WIND TURBINES AND OTHER WIND FARM INFRASTRUCTURE WITH AN INSTALLED CAPACITY OF UP TO 54.4MW ENOCH HILL WINDFARM, DALMELLINGTON APPLICATION BY E.ON CLIMATE AND RENEWABLES UK DEVELOPMENTS LTD Report by Head of Planning and Economic Development Economy and Skills Click for Application Details: http://eplanning.east- ayrshire.gov.uk/online/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=NVQXV9GF0240 0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SHEET PURPOSE OF REPORT 1. The purpose of this report is to present for the consideration of the Planning Committee under the scheme of delegation a formal consultation from the Scottish Ministers on an application made under Section 36 of The Electricity Act 1989 for a proposed wind farm development on land to the north of the B741 public road and for the Planning Committee to take a formal view on the proposed development. The Section 36 application includes an application for deemed planning permission for the same development under Section 57(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. RECOMMENDATION 2. It is recommended that the Council objects to the development and that this committee report and the minutes of the Planning Committee be forwarded to the Scottish Ministers as presenting this Council’s formal response to the consultation. 3. In addition it is also recommended that the Council: Informs the Scottish Ministers that should Ministers be minded to grant consent for the Enoch Hill windfarm, that the Council seeks the conclusion of a Section 75 legal agreement between the applicant and the Council prior to the issue of Section 36 consent and deemed planning permission to include those matters listed within the legal implications section of this committee report; and Informs the Scottish Ministers that should Ministers be minded to grant consent for the Enoch Hill windfarm, that the Planning Authority is to be involved in discussion with the Scottish Government and the applicant concerning appropriate planning conditions for the deemed planning consent to ensure that the matters noted throughout this report are properly addressed and recognising that such conditions are returned to the Planning Authority for discharge. CONTRARY DECISION NOTE 4. Should the Committee agree to not object to the application, contrary to the recommendation of the Head of Planning and Economic Development, the application would not require to be referred to Council as the scheme of delegation does not include provision for this to take place where a view is being sought on a Section 36 consultation Michael Keane Head of Planning and Economic Development Note: This document combines key sections of the associated report for quick reference and should not in itself be considered as having been the basis for recommendation preparation or decision making by the Planning Authority. EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE: 8 SEPTEMBER 2017 15/0004/S36 – 16 WIND TURBINES AND OTHER WIND FARM INFRASTRUCTURE WITH AN INSTALLED CAPACITY OF UP TO 54.4MW ENOCH HILL WINDFARM, DALMELLINGTON APPLICATION BY E.ON CLIMATE AND RENEWABLES UK DEVELOPMENTS LTD Report by Head of Planning and Economic Development Economy and Skills PURPOSE OF REPORT 2. The purpose of this report is to present for the consideration of the Planning Committee under the scheme of delegation a formal consultation from the Scottish Ministers on an application made under Section 36 of The Electricity Act 1989 for a proposed wind farm development on land to the north of the B741 public road and for the Planning Committee to take a formal view on the proposed development. The Section 36 application includes an application for deemed planning permission for the same development under Section 57(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF APPLICATION 3. The Scottish Ministers are responsible, under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989, for the authorisation of any new, or extensions to, existing electricity generation schemes with a generation capacity in excess of 50 Megawatts (MW). As the current proposal for the Enoch Hill wind farm has an installed capacity of up to 54.4MW, East Ayrshire Council has been formally consulted by the Scottish Ministers in terms of Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. 4. The Council is a formal consultee in this process and a copy of the application has been served on the Council by the Scottish Government and also by the applicant in terms of Schedule 8 of the Electricity Act 1989. In procedural terms the Council, as Planning Authority, requires to provide a response to the Scottish Ministers. In this regard the Council in response to the consultation can either: (i) Offer no objections to the Section 36 application as submitted; or (ii) Offer no objections subject to the imposition of appropriate conditions or legal obligations it considers necessary to make the development acceptable; or (iii) Object to the application, stating the grounds on which objection is made. 5. The Section 36 application was lodged with the Scottish Ministers on 28 September 2015 together with an Environmental Statement as required under The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000. That submission proposed a scheme of up to 62.7MW with 19 turbines. Following feedback from consultees including the Council, the scheme has been reduced through the submission of Further Environmental Information (FEI) to 16 turbines. 6. Should the Scottish Ministers be disposed to grant a Section 36 consent for the Enoch Hill windfarm, the applicant has requested that deemed planning consent be granted in terms of Section 57 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. A separate application for planning permission would not therefore be required for the proposed development. APPLICATION DETAILS 7. Site Description: The application site is located to the south of the B741 public road in the southern part of East Ayrshire. New Cumnock is located approximately 2.3km to the north east and Dalmellington some 7km to the west. The nearest settlement is at Burnside which is located immediately adjacent to the north eastern boundary of the site. 8. It encompasses an area of approximately 1466ha which largely comprises of moorland used as rough grazing land, predominantly for sheep. Ground elevations in the area generally rise from north to south and the site ranges from a low point of approximately 210m AOD adjacent to Burnside to 569m AOD at the summit of Enoch Hill. The site is broadly shaped like an inverted triangle but with the central northern section excluded. 9. The site western and southern boundaries are largely contiguous with the edges of large commercial forestry plantations although portions of this forestry have recently been felled, most notably around Maneight Hill in the west. The northern site boundary follows the B741 between Polmathburn Bridge and the residential property at Knockburnie before turning south, excluding Dalleagles, Straid Farm and the steep sided valley of the Dalleagles Burn and part of the Crocradie Burn valley. The northern boundary of the site thereafter abuts the southern boundary of the settlement of Burnside. The eastern site boundary follows the course of the Connel Burn and runs in an approximate north east to south west direction. 10. The site is surrounded to the north west, west and south by commercial forestry plantation, some of which has been felled. To the immediate north is the B741 linking New Cumnock and Dalmellington with areas of restored, unrestored and operational surface coal mines beyond the B741. To the east, land use is dominated by moorland centred on a ridge formed by Ewe and Lamb Hills and Corby Knowes with commercial forestry and the Afton Valley further east. The south of the site is dominated by commercial forestry and higher hills of the southern uplands with the existing Windy Standard windfarm and under construction extension located in this area. 11. Proposed Development: The application proposes the following: 16 wind turbines in total of up to 130m to tip height with an 80m hub height, a crane pad hardstanding area at each turbine base and a transformer either within the turbine or in an external kiosk; New on site access tracks of approximately 12.07km in length with passing places; Two meteorological masts; Five new watercourse crossings; A control building and compound; A Scottish Power substation building; On site underground cabling. In addition to the above components of the operational wind farm, the construction phase proposals include: Temporary construction compound; Up to two borrow pits within individual borrow pit search areas; a network operator construction compound; a concrete batching plant; An up to 50m micro siting tolerance for turbines and masts and 25m for access tracks. The application also promotes: An approximate 12 month construction period; a 25 year operational period; and an unspecified decommissioning and restoration period. 12. The turbines and the majority of the associated infrastructure for the windfarm is proposed to be located in the western and southern area of the site with no infrastructure located in the eastern or north eastern part of the application site. The development is to be accessed from a new access junction located at the north western corner of the site, near to the Polmathburn Bridge. 13. The proposal comprises the erection of 16 three bladed turbines with an individual rating of up to 3.4 megawatts (MW) providing a maximum total capacity of 54.4MW. The turbine locations are linked via new access tracks amounting to c12km in length which comprises of cut and floated roads and will incorporate passing places. The on site access roads are expected to have a normal running width of 4.5 to 5m and a maximum running width of 6m except on bends and at passing places where width will increase to up to 14m.