Camilty Wind Farm - Partnerships for Renewables

Camilty Wind Farm
Corston Hill would be receptors of high sensitivity to a small magnitude of change in view.
The long term impacts would result in a Slight effect, which is not significant.
9.5.100 Lighting within farmsteads, settlements and on turbines at Pates Hill Wind Farm would form a
night time context for views of the warning lights on the proposed wind farm turbines. The
effects on receptors would be of Negligible significance.
Viewpoint 11. Harperrig Reservoir
9.5.101 This viewpoint is located near the edge of the Pentland Hills Regional Park and provides one
of the few publically accessible locations where near views over the reservoir can be gained.
The proposed wind farm turbines would be visible as a backdrop to the reservoir, together
with the Pates Hill Wind Farm. The proposed turbines would form a prominent addition to the
view, although characteristic of the existing view and landscape features within the landscape
of commercial forestry beyond the boundaries of the park. The slender anemometry mast
would be barely perceptible against the sky at this distance. Clumps of trees and groups of
buildings surround the water body, partially concealing the proposed turbines, which create a
similar pattern in the landscape. Walkers on the historic path over the Pentland Ridge are
receptors of high sensitivity. The magnitude of change which would result from the wind farm
is small, leading to a long term Moderate effect, which is not significant.
9.5.102 Lighting within properties in the foreground and on turbines at Pates Hill would form a
relatively low level of night time lighting, in which the proposed warning lights on the
proposed wind farm turbines would be visible. The level of effect of these additional lights in a
relatively dark rural landscape would be Slight.
Viewpoint 12. West Cairn Hill
9.5.103 The proposed wind farm would be visible within the sprawling landscape of commercial
forestry which extends from the base of the Pentland Hills west into the distance. The
geometric blocks and strips of dark coniferous planting provide the dominant landscape
pattern, out of which the turbines would rise, together with the Pates Hill scheme beyond.
The scale and layout of the turbines respond well to the scale and pattern of the managed
forestry, to which it would most strongly relate. The presence of the Muirhall and Blacklaw
Wind Farms to the left of the view reinforce the characteristic of wind farms in this landscape,
which lies beyond the Pentland Hills Regional Park. The blocks and strips of woodland, which
would need to be felled to accommodate the turbines and access tracks, would be visible in
this view although the overall pattern of the trees remaining at the Camilty Plantation would
not be unacceptably disrupted. The sensitivity of walkers at the summit of this popular peak
would be high. The magnitude of change in view would be medium in the long term, resulting
in a Major effect, which is significant in terms of the assessment methodology.
9.5.104 Lighting at farmsteads, settlements and on the road network throughout this wide expanse of
landscape and the warning lights at the three existing wind farms would provide a relatively
well lit context at night, into which the warning lights on turbines within the proposed wind
farm would be placed. The level of effect on night time views would be Slight.
Viewpoint 13. Craigengar
9.5.105 The rounded profile of the Pentland Hills ridge in this location obscures much of the middle
distance in this view, directing the eye to the proposed wind farm and existing Pates Hill Wind
Farm beyond the fringes of the Regional Park. The proposed wind farm would extend the
pattern of development established by the Pates Hill Wind Farm in its context of commercial
March 2013 9-68 ES Chapter 9
Landscape and Visual
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