Camilty Wind Farm - Partnerships for Renewables

Camilty Wind Farm
10 Cultural Heritage and Archaeology
10.1 Introduction and Overview
10.1.1 This chapter considers the direct and indirect effects of the proposed wind farm on the
cultural heritage of the area, including buried archaeological sites, historic buildings and
historic landscapes. It aims to identify all effects on these 'historic assets' - in terms of the
potential for direct physical disturbance and indirect visual effects on setting - and to assess
the overall effect and significance of these predicted effects.
10.1.2 The following stages of the proposed wind farm are likely to affect the historic environment:
• Construction - this would be the phase where direct physical effects on any buried
archaeology are most likely to occur;
• Operation - this is the phase during which visual effects on the settings of surrounding
historic assets would occur;
• Decommissioning - this is the phase during which the components of the wind farm
would be removed.
10.1.3 The construction of the tracks, turbine foundations, crane pads, construction compounds etc.
all involve significant groundworks and have the potential to disturb buried archaeological
remains.
10.1.4 A thorough desk assessment of the area of the proposed wind farm (see Figure 10.1),
followed by a site walkover in May 2012, forms the basis for the assessment of the potential
for known and unknown remains on the site to be physically disturbed by the proposed wind
farm. This information was fed into the design process and the final proposals have, to the
greatest extent possible, avoided direct effects on known archaeological sites.
10.1.5 The proposed wind farm consists of six variable pitch (three bladed) wind turbines, each with
a maximum tip height of 132 m. Other components of the wind farm development include:
• Crane hard-standing areas adjacent to each wind turbine;
• Underground electrical and scada 1
substation building;
cabling – linking each wind turbine with the
• A substation building;
• Site access from the existing A70;
• Permanent access tracks onto the site and between turbines;
• One permanent anemometry mast; and
• Temporary construction compound for materials storage and welfare facilities.
10.1.6 Mitigating the potential effects of the proposed development has largely been addressed
through the design evolution process. In particular, by carrying out a full and detailed
assessment of the location of historic assets within the core study area it has been possible
1 Wind Turbine ‘System Control and Data Acquisition’.
March 2013 10-1 ES Chapter 10
Cultural Heritage and Archaeology
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