Important
Information
MILE HILL WIND FARM
Information for Residents and
Users of the Glen - this page is available for download in pdf format here.
This Leaflet has been prepared
by gleninfo, an informal group of local residents of Glen Quharity. We understand and
support the need to develop renewable energy as part of action against climate change. Our
concern and objections about this project are caused by the siting of Mile Hill Wind farm
and its likely adverse effects upon the Glen, its inhabitants, and the landscape character
of the Highland Foothills where we are proud to live. We believe that the maximum production
of renewable energy from the wind farm (installed capacity of 12MW but in reality less than
30% of that because of wind variability) is not of sufficient public or environmental
benefit to justify the damage it will do.
We have prepared this document
to put some of the issues before you - you can get further information from us at www.gleninfo.co.uk or by email at windfarm@gleninfo.co.uk
THE
BACKGROUND
Airtricity Developments (UK)
Ltd (an energy company now owned by Scottish and Southern Energy - SSE) want to build a wind
farm on Mile Hill, in the heart of Glen Quharity.
Their Application for Planning
Permission, (reference: 08/00426/FUL), has been submitted.
It will be decided by the
Development Standards Committee (the Planning committee for Angus Council) at a meeting yet
to be arranged but probably in June. WE WILL PUT THIS DATE ON THE GLENINFO WEBSITE WHEN IT
IS AVAILABLE.
BUT objections to their
proposals need to be submitted without delay.
YOUR RIGHTS
To information:
the Planning Application and some minor documents can be seen on line at www.angus.gov.uk (search under Ref
08/00426/FUL) : the full Environmental Statement that Airtricity has had to prepare
because of the scale and environmental sensitivity of the proposal can be inspected at
Kirriemuir Library; Glenisla Post Office; and at Angus Council Access Office 5 Bank Street
Kirriemuir: A free Non Technical Summary can be obtained from Atkins Ltd, 200 Broomielaw,
Glasgow, G1 4RU telephone 0141 220 2001 1.
To object:
Written objections can be submitted to Neil Duthie, Angus Council, County Buildings,
Market Street, Forfar, Angus - email planning@angus.gov.uk;
FAX 01307 466 183
To be heard:
You can speak for a maximum of 5 minutes at the Committee meeting as long as you give 24
hours notice of your wish to do so. Contact Elaine Whittet, Committee Officer, on 01307
476265 or email at whittet@angus.gov.uk. The
meetings are held at 10am or 2pm, generally on a Tuesday.
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THE
PRESENT PLANNING POSITION
Airtricity was given planning
permission with conditions to build a temporary anemometer on the site at a Development
Standards Committee meeting on the 29th April 2008. This anemometer is a thin steel
structure 80 metres high. Its purpose is to measure the amount and strength of wind blowing
in the proposed turbine area. The planning considerations for such a mast are nowhere near
as strict as for the full development - and Airtricity has been told that they must
not assume that a wind turbine application will be granted. (5 members of the 12
strong committee voted to defer the application pending more information about the choice of
this site).
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THEY
PLAN TO BUILD:
6 wind turbines each 100.5
metres high (329 feet) stretching across the northern side of Mile Hill.
To give an idea of scale, the
turbines are the same height as the steel work of the Forth Rail Bridge - and only 21 feet
lower than Bass Rock.
The diameter of the turbine
towers will be 4 metres at their widest - and the diameter of the moving rotor blades will
be 70 metre (210 feet). These turbines were originally developed for off shore use: they
are built to the scale of the sea and not to the scale of the Glen.
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NOT
JUST TURBINES...
Apart from the Turbines,
Airtricity need to build an elaborate infrastructure:
-
6 crane pads each measuring
800m2 adjacent to each turbine base
-
Concrete foundations for
each Turbine measuring 16m by 16m by 1.5m deep, dug into a 3 metre bed
-
2 permanent anemometer
masts: each measuring 65 metres high
-
Up to 7 'borrow pits'
(quarries) from which an estimated 63,000 cubic metres of rock will be excavated.
Blasting will be used 'as a last resort should other extraction methods prove unsuitable
2.' (It appears that Airtricity are as yet unsure how to extract the stone
they need) 5 of the 'borrow pits' will each measure 100m by 70 metres; 2 will measure 70
by 50 m, and one 70 by 70 metres: a total excavation area on Mile Hill of 36,900 square
metres
-
Site access tracks to the
turbines - 4.3 km of track on the hill itself, minimum 13 feet wide rising to 18 feet
and wider at intersections; and a further 1.6 kilometres of access track from Aucharroch
farm, on the south side of Mile Hill
-
Tuning circles for
'temporary' passing lanes, each measuring hard standing of 5metres by 10 metres
-
3 'turning areas' for
construction lorries measuring 1600 m2
-
Temporary construction
compound - measuring 150 metres by 40 metres, with internal space for workers' canteen,
washroom, toilets
-
Permanent Control station
measuring 50m by 50m - surrounded by 2.7 high palisade fence; substation measuring 25m
by 12m within its confines. Foul waste management from toilet/washrooms to be by
construction of a soakaway and septic tank
-
7 km of 33,000 V overhead
cabling taking the electricity down to the Grid at Maryton ~ The company have not
produced any plans for this which will be part of a separe application: the full 'look'
of the development cannot therefore be assessed. If the newly constructed poles conform
to the ones used at Drumderg they will be 24 feet high with metal out-struts
-
The total area of the site
is 267 hectares ~ Construction is estimated to take 9 months, including weekend working
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WHAT
WILL THIS LOOK LIKE?
Airtricity has produced
'photomontages' which purport to show how the turbines will look for various selected
viewpoints. These photomontages do not show any of the associated development. Nor do
the photomontages give a realistic view of the turbines and the effect they will have on
local residences. They do not represent a fair or balanced picture of the effect upon the
Glen.
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IS
THIS THE RIGHT PLACE FOR A WINDFARM?
The proposed wind farm is in an
area designated as of 'high sensitivity' because of its valued landscape. Angus Planning
Policy is clear that 'proposals for large scale wind energy development will not normally
be permitted in the Highland and Coast Geographic Area (Areas 1 and 3) in Angus. Mile Hill
is in Area 1: Highland, with High Sensitivity to the visual impact of large, man made
features such as wind turbines.
The policy is clear: 'Whilst
it is possible that individual turbines may be satisfactorily accommodated in parts of these
areas, locations associated with highland summits and plateaux, along the highland boundary
fault line or on coastal locations are unlikely to be suitable, primarily because of the
visual sensitivity . The capacity of the landscape to absorb wind energy development will
also vary, and the scale and location of the turbines will be an important factor in their
impact on the landscape' 3.
-
This wind farm will be
visible from the Cairngorm National Park - the National Park Authority have pointed out
that it can be seen from 9.5 kilometre away but the nearest viewpoint produced by
Airtricity is over 16km away - an example perhaps of how the massive visual effect is
being downplayed?
-
The wind farm will be
visually cumulative: a walker on Mile Hill will see not just these turbines but the full
effect of Drumderg as well
-
Walkers on Cat Law will
have a panoramic view - of the turbines and development
-
The wind farm comes into
the highest category of visual impact - it will be the defining feature of the glen
-
The glen is too intimate
and too small scale to have any chance of 'absorbing' this development.
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A
LARGE SCALE DEVELOPMENT IN A NARROW GLEN
Airtricity's Environmental
Statement attempts to downscale this development: 'Although the proposed wind farm falls
within the 'Highland Area' as defined in the local plan, it is considered 4 that
this six turbine proposal is not 'large scale' and is in fact a small - medium scale
commercial wind farm'.
But according to Angus
Council's own definition that cannot be correct: 'Large scale projects...are
defined as hydro electric schemes designed to produce more than 0.5MW and wind farms of
more than 2 turbines or where the hub height of any turbine or other structure exceeds 15m'
5.
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WHY ELSE
IS THIS SCHEME OBJECTIONABLE?
1.
THE CHARACTER OF THIS GLEN
-
The Glen is an area of
extraordinary natural beauty and tranquillity
-
Although intimate and
domestic in scale, it is well known to walkers, cyclists, artists and visitors who come
here for rest and recreation
-
It is on the precise
boundary between 'the Highland foothills' and 'Highland Summits and Plateaux' 6
- landscape definitions by Scottish National Heritage which are adopted and respected by
Angus Council and which inform planning applications 7
-
It is bounded to the north
by Cat Law, not only the scene of a historic battle but a well known landmark with
panoramic views stretching across Strathmore
-
Mile Hill itself is of
archaeological and historic significance: the wind farm site itself contains 33 sites of
cultural heritage interest including two of 'regional importance' - Mile Hill Cairn and
Saddle Hill late Bronze Age settlement
-
The Glen contains Balintore
Castle, a Grade A listed building recently compulsorily purchased by Angus Council who
were anxious it be preserved - and who sold onto to a local resident who lives there
whilst restoring it. Balintore Castle is 2 km 8 from the wind farm, with an
uninterrupted view of the entire wind farm
-
The glen is served by a
narrow road, steeply inclined on one side, from which the wind farm will be clearly -
and distractingly - visible from all points. (Airtricity include NO photomontages from
this road ...nor from the houses at Auldallan, positioned within 600 metres of the
turbines)
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2. THE
NATURAL LIFE OF THE GLEN
Glen Quharity is a rich and
diverse habitat for animal life, including protected species and Red List/Amber List of
birds. These include:
-
Osprey - who nest on a
secret location on Mile Hill itself
-
Eagles
-
Sky larks - a Red List bird
which has 17 breeding territories on Mile Hill, Gairlaw Wood and Kinclune Hill
-
Buzzards, kestrel, and hen
harriers
-
Wildfowl - grey lag and
pink footed geese resident at Loch Lintrathen
-
Surveys have found breeding
13 other Red List or Amber List birds in the immediate vicinity of the wind farm
-
Other protected species
include otters and water voles in Quarity Burn; pipistrelle bats who roost and have
maternity colonies in houses and trees immediately next to the proposed site; barn and
tawny owls who forage along the Glen road
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3. WATER
COURSES
-
The Quharity Burn and the
Cromie Burn are both fed by runoffs from the wind farm site. The unpolluted waters of
these burns feed into rivers with the highest environmental classification - SAC
(Special Areas of Conservation) protected by UK and European legislation. Quharity Burn
feeds River South Esk; Cromie Burn the Tay
-
Angus Council, Scottish
Natural Heritage, Esk Salmon Fishery Board are all concerned about the potential effect
of pollution caused particularly by the construction phase of this wind farm - we should
all be concerned about polluting the clear waters of this Glen and the effect this could
have on the wider ecology
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4. RISKS
TO WATER
-
Pollution risks include wet
and dry building sediment swept into the water courses; alkali leaching from concrete
pours; accident in construction e.g. fuel, oil and sanitary waste spillages; blasting
effects; water removal, land erosion... however well this is theoretically 'managed'
Mile Hill will be a building site for at least 9 months - on a fragile and delicately
balanced ecology
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5. RISKS
TO BIRDS AND BATS
These include death by
collision with the moving - or stationary - turbines; displacement of habitat because of
construction and operation; destruction of habitat which will be built over. Airtricity
state they will 'mitigate' the 'theoretical' risks e.g. by having a buffer zone between the
osprey nest and the nearest turbine; by ensuring no construction takes place within 100
metres of a bat roost.
But we are still concerned:
the theoretical mathematical modelling on which they assess the ospreys are safe relies on
the osprey learning to avoid the area! The 100 metre buffer zone for bats is half that
recommended by 'Eurobats' a conservation measure to which the UK was a signatory. However
'careful' theoretical studies are, the incidence of death of protected birds by wind farms
is well documented.
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6. TOO
CLOSE FOR COMFORT - HUMANKIND
-
The development will over
shadow Auldallan village - the nearest turbine will be only 600 metres from Auldallan
Cottage. Auldallan Steadings, the Farmhouse, and Auldallan Mill will be a mere 400
metres further away
-
The quality of life of the
residents of those houses will be severely affected. They will suffer visual domination,
reflected light, noise and shadow flicker, 9 with possible health affects
from perpetual low level noise - all this in an undeveloped rural area so tranquil that
you can hear the quiet voices of your neighbours and a passing tractor is an event. The
visual amenity of their homes will be destroyed
-
Noise: according to
Airtricity's figures, the quietest the turbines will ever be is 35 decibels, rising to
45 decibels. Rural night time quiet ranges from 20 decibels to 40 - and that noise is
intermittent. The turbines will produce continuous noise - and the prevailing
south west winds in the glen will carry it straight to the houses. The company discounts
the effect of additional deep vibration noise at low levels which can be carried for
miles
-
The effect of living in too
close proximity to a wind farm IS seen as inadvisable - by the wind industry itself!
BWEA (The British Wind Energy Association) in their Best Practice Guide state: Wind
turbines should not be located so close to domestic dwellings that they unreasonably
affect the amenity of such properties through noise, shadow flicker, visual domination
or reflected light. BWEA does not define how close too close is: but independent
experts do.
i) The United Kingdom Noise Association (UKNA) in their 2006 report (believed to be the
first such report incorporating evidence from acoustic and medical experts) concluded
that
'It would be prudent that no wind turbine should be sited closer than 1 mile away
from the nearest dwelling... there may even be occasions where a mile is insufficient
depending on the scale and nature of the proposed development'
ii) The French Academy of Medicine in a 2006 report recommended that wind
turbine construction be halted within 1.5 kilometres from residences
iii) Other independent experts - including UK and American doctors concerned about a
increasing health problems including sleep deprivation in patients living near wind
turbines - have concluded that they should not be sited within 1 -2 miles of human
habitation. The closeness of the turbines to the residents of Auldallan sets an
uneasy precedent for wind farm development in our community - the 3 nearest houses to
Drumderg Wind Farm are set at a slightly better distance - 1.2 and 1.5 kilometres away.
~ could this be the thin end of the wedge for the Angus Glens?
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THE TIME TO OBJECT IS
NOW~!!!!!!
Footnotes:
1 but note that the Non
technical summary is merely a summary and does not include important data
2 para 2.32 of 'Environmental
Statement 'Volume 1
3 ~Angus Local Plan p87
4 that is, by Airtricity!
5 Angus Local Plan p 85
6 Cat Law is Highland Summit
area
7 See below for Planning
considerations
8 Not 20 kilometre away from
the wind farm as stated by Airtricity - Table 6.2 of Environmental Statement
9 Shadow
flicker: the effect caused by the moving blades which split the rays of a low sun into a
strobe like invasion through windows of nearby homes. Airtricity maintain this will only
happen for up to 51 hours per year and they will switch the turbines off for that whole
period. If their figures are wrong....?
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