Draft National Wind Farm Development Guidelines - July 2010

It may be worthwhile contacting local tourism operators, travel agents and regional
tourism organisations to assist in identifying potential impacts of the proposed wind farm on
values held by non-local communities and visitors.
C.4.2.2
Assessment of impacts on viewsheds and views
The assessment should identify, rate and describe the visibility and relative visual intrusion of
the wind farm development on identified viewsheds and views. Particular consideration
should be given to:
• Regionally and/or locally significant views and viewing locations, as identified in the
C.4.1.3
Viewshed and views analysis.
• Key views and viewing locations from which the wind farm will be viewed (public and
private), as identified in the C.4.1.3 Viewshed and views analysis.
• The expected number of viewers at each viewing location, taking into consideration
land tenure and access, occurrence of tourism and recreation locations.
• The distance from which the wind farm, or elements of it, will be viewed (from
identified key public and private locations) (identification of distance zones may be
appropriate).
• The benefit of keeping the outlook from at least one side of a dwelling free of views of
the wind farm development.
• Local transient, seasonal and climatic influences on visibility (e.g. atmospheric
effects).
• Occurrence of other buildings and structures and vegetation which will affect visibility.
• Attributes of the wind farm turbines or ancillary infrastructure relevant to
understanding visual intrusion (e.g. movement, colour, materials, reflectivity,
transparency).
C.4.2.3
Assessment of impacts on community values
Input should be sought from community stakeholders to assist in describing potential
impacts (positive and/or negative) of the proposed wind farm on identified valued
landscape character and features. Ideally input would be sought from those individuals
involved in identification of values of the subject landscape (see C.4.1.4
Community values analysis).
In seeking community stakeholder input, the proponent should provide sufficient
information to inform the assessment, including:
• Information reflecting the conclusions of the Full Landscape Assessment, including
those informed by direct community input or derived from other sources (e.g.
research or previous studies).
• A description of the development, cross-sections, photomontages, viewshed
mapping analysis), 3D simulations and the Full Landscape Assessment report (see
page 80).
• Any other technical reports which assist to understand landscape impacts (potentially
including reports by other consultants).
• The proponent may also choose to provide information relating to other studies (e.g.
flora and fauna, cultural heritage) to assist community understanding of landscape
values.
This information should then be analysed to evaluate the impact of the of the proposed
wind farm (including all components) on community-held values of the landscape and
surrounding area.
Page 86 Draft National Wind Farm Development Guidelines – 2 July 2010