environmental statement - Rotherham's Online Application for ...

enough to enter an undulating plateau. The wind farm would be indirectly
visible after 800m but it will be partially obstructed by the presence of two
sets of tall electricity pylons which are present at the southern edge of the
motorway. As the motorway proceeds past the diverge section the
motorway bends towards the south and approaches the area which would
have the three northernmost turbines to the south west. After the traffic
passes under the M18 over bridge the turbines would be indirectly visible
and would move into direct view as the traffic continues around the bend.
They would then remain directly visible through the interchange and the
merging section with the M18 and the various turbines would pass from
direct to indirect view before becoming non-visible 1.1km from the
beginning of the merging section.
11.68 Route 6: The section of motorway from Junction 31 north to Junction 33,
runs adjacent to and is at the same elevation as the wind farm site. North
of junction 31 the motorway runs inside a cutting after which the land on
either side of the motorway is entirely clear, which would allow for clear
views of the wind farm and the surrounding farm land for a distance of
1.3km up to the diverge section for the M18 southern slip road.
11.69 Accident data for the period 2003 – 2008 was obtained from RMBC for the
strategic road network in the vicinity of the proposed Penny Hill Wind
Farm. In the majority of instances accidents occurred in areas where traffic
and drivers would not be directly affected by wind farm visibility or where
traffic was travelling away from the site with turbines outside of the field of
view. It was therefore determined that the presence of turbines would not
exacerbate factors attributing to such accidents.
11.70 A review of the accidents at two wind farms close to the strategic highway
network has been carried out to identify whether there is any notable
increase in accidents occurring as a result.
Lambrigg Wind Farm, Cumbria
11.71 The wind farm is located approximately 600m to the North East of Junction
37 of the M6. The wind farm was opened in 2000 and consists of five (1.3
MW) turbines.
11.72 Accident statistics were obtained for the period 1995-2005 for the M6 for
Junction 37 adjacent to the wind farm and approximately 3 miles in either
direction to the North and South, to provide five years of data before and
after implementation. Accidents were filtered to remove trips travelling
away from the junction.
11.73 During the five year period prior to the construction of the site (1995-1999),
30 personal injury accidents occurred, consisting of 1 fatal, 9 serious injury
and 20 slight injury accidents. In the five-year period following the
construction of the site (2001-2005), 20 personal injury accidents
occurred, consisting of 4 serious injury and 16 slight injury accidents.
267
Penny Hill Wind Farm
Environmental Statement