Camilty Wind Farm - Partnerships for Renewables

Camilty Wind Farm
9.5.7 The ‘Bathgate Hills’ character area, which is designated as an AGLV and lies approximately
10 km to the north west, provides an elevated location for views out to the south east and the
Pentland Hills. The high level construction activities would be visible in the context of this
rural character area with a backdrop of the Pentland ridge. The sensitivity of this character
area would be high and the magnitude of change would be small. The effect on the character
of the Bathgate Hills would be Slight, which is not significant.
9.5.8 The ‘Tinto Hills Prominent Isolated Hills’ character area forms an area of relatively wild and
remote uplands within an AGLV and candidate SLA approximately 25 km to the south west of
the site. The landscape of plateau and plains on the fringes of the Pentland Hills forms a wide
panorama visible from the peaks of the hills. The construction activities would form a very
minor element in the context of the hills. The sensitivity of this landscape would be high and
the magnitude of change due to the influence of the proposals over the landscape would be
small, resulting in a Slight effect, which is not significant.
9.5.9 The ‘Livingston Urban’ character area lies approximately 6 km to the north of the site. The
high level construction activities and cranes would be a minor temporary addition in the
context of this large settlement. The sensitivity of the area is negligible and the magnitude of
change would be small. The urban context of the character area during the day would not be
significantly affected by the Negligible effects.
9.5.10 The remaining 15 character areas lie within the study area at a distance of between 10 km
and 35 km from the proposed wind farm. These character areas would be either located at
distance from the construction site or would coincide with relatively little of the ZTV, limiting
the intervisibility between the character areas and the construction activities. The areas
include Uplands and Fringes, Lowland Hills, River Valleys, Coastal and Urban character
areas. The sensitivity of these areas range from low to high, although the magnitude of
change would be negligible for all of them. The resulting temporary effect would be Negligible
for all of the 15 character areas, which is not significant.
Effects on Visual Receptors During the Construction of the Wind Farm
9.5.11 The extent of visibility of the existing site would increase considerably during the construction
phase of the wind farm due mainly to the introduction of high level cranes and turbine
erection activities at the site. The cranes would be visible above the surrounding trees and
woodland which screens the majority of the existing site area.
Local Level Study Area
9.5.12 Residential visual receptors within a radius of approximately 2 km form a local level study
area and are all defined as being of high sensitivity (see Figure 9.13). The effect on their
views is described below. A residential amenity assessment has not been undertaken for
these properties as it is considered that sufficient detail regarding effects on the views of
occupiers has been taken into consideration and that no overbearing or oppressive effects
are likely to occur. Reference to the Planning Statement, which accompanies this ES,
provides further justification for this approach.
9.5.13 There would be no significant lighting requirements at the site during the construction phase.
The night time effects would be negligible in magnitude and thus not significant. This
assessment also holds true for all other visual receptors and so is not assessed further
below.
March 2013 9-52 ES Chapter 9
Landscape and Visual
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