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

6.51 With regards to the landscape character of the wider area, sensitivity has
been determined for each Joint Character Area identified within 20km of
the site.
6.52 A visual receptor‟s response to landscape character is influenced by the
physical and perceptual characteristics of their surroundings. In most
cases, the landscape components in the immediate surroundings have a
much stronger influence on the sense of landscape character than distant
features. Occasionally at elevated viewpoints it is possible to feel a sense
of exposure or remoteness and this is partially defined not only by
immediate surroundings but the presence or absence of distant features in
the landscape, and the level of human activity evident in the surrounding
landscape.
6.53 How sensitive a landscape character area is to a wind energy
development more than a few kilometres away therefore reflects a number
of factors including: the number of elevated locations which enable an
appreciation of the wider landscape, the extent to which remoteness and
wilderness are key features of the landscape, any sense of scale derived
from proximity to other character areas, the importance of focal points in
the surrounding area and the amount of movement and activity in the
surrounding landscape.
6.54 The judgement about how sensitive the character areas are has been
made by extrapolating this information from appendices to „Planning for
Renewable Energy Targets in Yorkshire and Humber‟, Government Office
for Yorkshire and Humber.
6.55 The sensitivity of landscape features and character has been described as
high, medium or low.
VISUAL SENSITIVITY
6.56 Visual sensitivity cannot be easily quantified as different people have
different viewing expectations. Representative viewpoints have been used
in the assessment to represent different visual receptor groups at various
distances and directions from the site. The sensitivity of the receptor
groups to a wind farm depends on a number of factors such as the
occupation of the viewer (e.g. resident, traveller passing by the scheme,
someone at work), their viewing expectations, duration of view and the
angle or direction in which they would see the site.
6.57 As a general guide, however, residential receptors, tourists, recreational
users of public rights of way and people at recognised vantage points such
as mountain tops are considered to have a higher sensitivity to change in
their view than people conducting their daily business (e.g. at their place of
work) or travelling through a landscape (excluding people sightseeing).
6.58 It should be noted that, in selecting the representative viewpoints for the
assessment, there was a strong bias towards identifying the most sensitive
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Penny Hill Wind Farm
Environmental Statement