Camilty Wind Farm - Partnerships for Renewables

Camilty Wind Farm
considered to materially contribute to a significant cumulative impact on the Westwater SPA,
Ramsar Site and SSSI population or on the species at the NHZ level.
12.9 Summary of Effects
12.9.1 The baseline surveys conducted to inform the EIA have identified an ornithological
assemblage within the vicinity of the development that is typical of plantation and upland
habitats of Central/South-east Scotland, with usage within the application site boundary being
confined mainly to relatively common breeding passerines and raptors. Although a number
of species were identified as being of conservation concern, most were not considered
significant within the context of their respective regional or national populations, and further
consideration was not required within the EIA. This left three VORs to be taken into account
in the impact assessment: goshawk, pink-footed goose and greylag goose.
12.9.2 The impact assessment identified that there would be no effects of habitat loss, disturbance,
displacement or barrier effects on either pink-footed geese or greylag geese. Regarding
collision mortality, although the proposed wind farm was predicted to result in the mortality of
a small number of individuals from each of these species per year, the mortality rates were
predicted to be well within acceptable levels when compared to regional population figures.
12.9.3 Importantly, survey data collected at both the proposed Camilty wind farm site and at the
Westwater SPA, Ramsar site and SSSI (for which pink-footed goose is the qualifying feature)
indicated that few of the pink-footed geese flying over Camilty were associated with the
Westwater population. This, in conjunction with data from previous studies at Westwater,
strongly suggests that there is little connectivity between the proposed Camilty wind farm site
and the Westwater SPA for this qualifying feature.
12.9.4 With regard to goshawk, the impact assessment identified that the proposed wind farm would
result in the potential loss of foraging and nesting habitat, disturbance and displacement of
birds from suitable habitat associated with the general area of the proposed wind farm, and
could potentially pose a barrier to the movement of locally occurring goshawks within their
range. However, when considering the ongoing effects of forestry activities that the local
goshawks have apparently adapted to, such effects were anticipated to have no more than
slight adverse impacts on the regional goshawk population, which is considered to be not
significant in terms of the EIA Regulations. With regard to collision mortality, the proposed
wind farm was predicted to result in the collision of approximately one bird every three years.
This predicted collision rate is thought to be precautionary and does not necessarily reflect
the species typical below-canopy flight behaviour. However, when compared to background
natural mortality figures this predicted collision rate was considered to have a level of effect
of no more than slight on the regional goshawk population, and hence was not considered to
be significant in terms of the EIA Regulations.
12.9.5 With regard to cumulative effects in combination with other wind farm developments it was
concluded that any impacts on pink-footed geese or greylag geese would be of negligible
level, whilst those on goshawk were of a slight level of effect.
March 2013 12-66 ES Chapter 12
Ornithology
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