Forthbank Wind Energy Development - Partnerships for Renewables

Forthbank Wind Energy Development
9.2.24 The field survey allowed an appreciation of the scale, extent, prominence and distance from
the proposed wind energy development to be experienced.
9.2.25 The field survey is essential to inform the sequential impact assessment. The landscape
characteristics of the route corridors and the views which can be gained throughout a journey
can be understood, and how they are likely to be affected by the proposal. Similarly, the field
survey is essential to the cumulative impact assessment, both in terms of assessing the
combined impact of the various wind energy developments under consideration, and in terms
of considering the overall capacity of the receiving landscape for wind energy development.
The Influence of Weather
9.2.26 Changing weather patterns and local climatic conditions will influence the visibility of the wind
energy development in terms of the extent of view, the colour and contrast of the turbines and
the number of turbines visible and thus the perceived visual impact. There will be periods of
low visibility (sea mist, fog, low cloud and warm conditions that are accompanied by the haze
of temperature inversions) as well as periods of high visibility in clear weather. Differing
weather conditions would have an effect on how the proposed wind energy development may
be seen. In some instances it may be ‘back-lit’ (appearing darker in colour during
sunset/sunrise and periods of pale or white blanket cloud) and ‘up-lit’ during stormy periods
that combine dark clouds and bright sunshine. The assessment assumes conditions of fine
weather, and therefore is a reasonable worst case scenario.
Identifying Effects
The Type and Duration of Effects
9.2.27 The assessment of landscape and visual effects is based on identifying the elements of the
proposal, which are likely to have a significant effect. The three main stages of the
development are:
• Construction: temporary and of a short duration;
• Operational: the proposed operational phase of the wind energy development is
time-limited (25 years); and
• De-commissioning: temporary and of a short duration.
Nature of Effects
9.2.28 The Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (GLVIA) describe the nature of
effects as follows:
…Effects can be negative (adverse) or positive (beneficial); direct, indirect,
secondary or cumulative and be either permanent or temporary (short, medium or
long term). They can also arise at different scales (local, regional or national) and
have different levels of significance (local, regional or national). (p.84, para 7.6)
November 2010 Chapter 9 Page 8
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