Galloper Wind Farm Project - National Infrastructure Planning

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7.0 Visual Effects
7.1. Nature and Duration of Visual Effects
7.1.1. The sources of visual effect arising from the proposed development are
described in Section 6.2 of this report under the consideration of the nature
and duration of Landscape Effects. Due to the limited magnitude of visual
effect arising during most of the construction and decommissioning phases,
the assessment of visual effects will focus on visual effects arising during the
operational phase of the proposed GWF.
7.2. Operational Effects on General Visual Amenity
7.2.1. The extent of visibility of the proposed WTGs along the immediate coastal
edge within the study area, along beaches, seafront promenades, along coastal
embankments and sea defences and along the edge of the Minsmere and
Dunwich cliff tops, will be broadly similar to that shown by the ZTV studies.
Immediately adjacent to the coastal edge, however, visibility is greatly
reduced by the screening effects of dune landform and also by the screening
effects of coastal embankments and sea defences, none of which are mapped
into the digital terrain model on which the ZTVs are based. This will
combine with the screening effects of local vegetation to limit visibility of
the proposed WTGs from lower-lying areas of marshland and coastal levels
areas adjacent to the coast, as well as limiting visibility of the proposed WTGs
from much of the mud flat areas around Hamford Waters, The Fens and The
Mere areas and the mudflats of Long Reach. Further inland, whilst most
potential views towards the proposed WTGs will be screened by intervening
landform and vegetation, there will be intermittent areas of distant, partial or
glimpsed visibility from some of the more open, eastward and southward
facing slopes located immediately adjacent to these lower-lying areas, such
as: elevated areas immediately north of Aldeburgh Marshes and Long Reach;
intermittent elevated areas of farmland to the east of Iken, to the east of
Sudbourne and north of Orford, adjacent to Short Reach and the Sudbourne
Marshes; intermittent elevated areas around Oak Hill and Hollesley and to
the north and west of Alderton; and elevated areas to the north of Falkenham.
Where views towards the proposed WTGs can be seen from the coast and
inland extents of the study area, they will generally appear as very distant
minor elements within the vast scale of panoramic views available along the
coast edge and these intermittent elevated inland areas. Furthermore, within
these very distant, panoramic views, most of the proposed WTGs will be
visible beyond the WTGs of the GGOWF.