Planning Supporting Statement - Partnerships for Renewables

Louth Canal Wind Energy Development
7.3.30 The proposed Development therefore meets the requirements of Policy 26 as it causes less
than substantial harm to identified heritage assets.
7.3.31 The proposed Development is partly on agricultural land, however following construction the
land will be returned to agricultural use. There will therefore be no permanent loss of
agricultural land.
Local Planning Policy
7.3.32 The saved policies from the East Lindsey Local Plan do not include a policy on renewable
energy generation, as this was deleted by the Secretary of State in 2007.
7.3.33 The proposal conforms to policy A5 (Quality and Design) (a) as the design of the Development
including its layout, scale and appearance do not detract from the distinctive character of the
locality, as set out in the Design and Access Statement. The proposed Development also
meets policy A5 (b) of this policy as it has minimal impact on medium and long term views as
set out in Chapter 9 (Landscape) and the Environmental Statement. The proposal also
includes an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the site post construction, helping to
meet policy A5 (c).
7.3.34 The proposal also accords with Policy C11 (Lincolnshire Wolds AONB) as the final design of
the Development has taken account for the potential for visual effects on the AONB, including
a reduction in the proposed height of the turbines during design iterations to a scale
appropriate for the site to optimise the visual design and minimise potential visual effects.
7.3.35 This policy mainly relates to development within the AONB and as this development is outside
the AONB these remaining elements of the policy is not relevant to this scheme.
7.3.36 It is however worth noting that the Development site is 6.3km from the boundary of the
Lincolnshire Wolds AONB and the conclusions of the Landscape and Visual Assessment
demonstrate that the proposed development has only a minor adverse visual effect on the
assessed views from the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Area of Great Landscape
Value. As such the Development would not harm landscape features or the character, role,
regional or local historic significance of the AONB, or inhibit the quiet enjoyment of it.
7.4 Other material considerations
7.4.1 The Regional Local Carbon Energy Opportunities and Heat Mapping Study is a material
consideration for this planning application. This document demonstrates that onshore wind
farms have the greatest technical resource potential in East Lindsey. The study also states that
East Lindsey (outside the Lincolnshire Wold AONB) had the potential for 1000 to 1802.9MW of
on shore renewable energy for electricity from commercial wind turbines.
7.4.2 The 2010 East Lindsey Annual Monitoring report shows that East Lindsey had a total capacity
of 29.4MW on the 1 st April 2009, with the potential for two further onshore wind farm schemes
to be delivered shortly providing another 19MW. The regional target for on shore wind is
175MW, whilst there is not local authority target, East Lindsey and other western local authority
areas are highlighted in the study as local authority areas with the highest potential for
renewable energy generation, including large scale wind turbine development. This report
confirms that in principle East Lindsey has the potential to deliver further renewable energy
schemes.
March 2012 29 Planning Supporting Statement
Copyright Partnerships for Renewables Development Co. Ltd 2012 ©