Energy / Environmental assessment needed for proposed wind farm, planners say
A PROPOSED three turbine wind farm in Shetland’s central mainland will need an environmental impact assessment (EIA), the local planning service has ruled.
A planning officer said an EIA would help to fully understand “potential environmental impacts, including landscape, visual and biodiversity impacts”.
Applicant Wind2 had requested a screening opinion as to whether its three-turbine Girlsta development would need an EIA.
In a report issued to planners, the developer said it felt that the wind farm proposal “does not constitute an EIA development”.
It said that with a “commitment to mitigation and further assessment, the potential for significant environmental impact is low”.
But the planning service ruled that “it has been identified that significant effects on the environment are considered likely” and that an EIA is required with any planning application.
Proposals emerged earlier this year for a wind farm featuring three turbines each up to 150 metres in height on land between Sand Water and the Loch of Girlsta.
Applicant Wind2 is a renewable energy developer with bases in Scotland and Wales.
During the EIA screening process concern was raised by NatureScot that two sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) could be “adversely affected” by the wind farm’s construction.
Local natural heritage officer Martin Schofield also said there is potential for the wind farm to have “significant environmental impacts in relation to our areas of interest namely, ecology and ornithology, peat and landscape and visual impacts”.
Given the proximity to other existing turbines in the central mainland, Wind2 previously said “potential cumulative effects of the proposed development with the Viking Wind Farm will be an important consideration for the project”.
The developer previously said it welcomed the feedback given in the EIA scoping process, adding: “Through the development and design of the project, every effort will be made to mitigate any possible impact as indicated by consultees or discovered through the survey effort itself.”
The applicant said in an earlier submission that it proposes to submit a detailed planning application which would include “suitable environmental mitigation, pre-emptive and ongoing environmental management proposals and any relevant technical and environmental appraisals”.
It said the site layout has been developed to “ensure known constraints such as watercourses, gradient, nationally significant areas of peat and buffers from residential properties have been respected”.
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