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In October 2003, Scottish Power applied for planning permission to erect 17 wind turbines, 2 meteorological masts, a control building and excavate four borrow pits.
The Turbines would be 93 metres (300 feet) tall. This is the same height as the Statue of Liberty, twice the height of typical multi storey housing blocks and six times the height of the trees in the locality.
One of the masts would be 60 metres tall and the other 30 metres tall.
The borrow pits, or to be more accurate, the quarries are to remove about 80,000 cubic metres of stone.
Most people who know Fife will know Clatto Hill by sight, although perhaps not by name. The Hill is set in beautiful countryside between Glenrothes and Cupar, between the Howe of Fife and the Fith of Forth, about 3 kilometres north of Kennoway. It is 248 metres above sea level, not quite as high as Largo Law at 299 metres but at least as prominent. It can be seen from most of the Howe of Fife and most of the low ground between Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes. There are excellent views of it from Hill of Tarvit, Falkland, East Lomond and Largo Law.
There are 35 farm settlements, with small groups of cottages, and four villages within 3 kilometres of Clatto Hill. Seven dwellings lie within half a kilometre of the proposed turbine sites and one dwelling is even no more than 600 metres away. Most of the people who live on or near the Hill would see the turbines from their homes and gardens, as well as when they were going to and from their homes in any direction. Many thousands of people in central Fife would also see the turbines as dominant features of the landscape as they went about their daily business.
There is a great deal of interest, and some fairly rare species to be found on and around Clatto Hill. These include protected raptors which would most certainly be endangered by the turbines. When turbines are operating, the blade tips travel at about 130 mph. Migrating geese including pinkfoot geese and many other species would also be endangered by the blades.
Whooper swans winter on Clatto Reservoir very close to the proposed turbine site. Although becoming rarer, there are still red squirrels on Clatto Hill. The site of the proposed turbines is used by badgers when foraging for food, although there are no sets on the site itself.
CLPG is very concerned that Scottish Power’s Environmental Statement understates how special the area is for wildlife and for the effect this proposal would have on them.
The Clatto Landscape Protection Group is an informal group of concerned people who live on or near Clatto Hill.
There is one very large wind turbine on Orkney and some turbines the same height as is proposed for Clatto Hill in Kintyre. All the other windfarms in the UK to date have smaller turbines, often 63 metres or less. In the Kintyre windfarm, the turbines are in a remote location and can be seen from very little of the peninsula at all.
A windfarm on Clatto Hill would create a precedent for even bigger turbines than now, in a larger grouping, closer than ever before to the nearest residents. However, Clatto Hill is not alone. In what has been called the “dash for wind”, there are about 170 proposals for new windfarms in Scotland many of which would have turbines as high, or higher, and sited close to residents in areas of great landscape value. There are several proposals just west of Fife for turbines on the Ochils, which, if approved, would mean you see turbines wherever you look towards these fine hills.
Our Government is clearly backing moves to reduce, or at least try to limit CO2 emmissions, because of the effect on global warming. The Scottish Executive expects councils, and developers of renewable energy alike, to take account of its policy guidance in a document called NPPG6. It wants to see renewable energy developed in various ways, while avoiding a detrimental impact on nearby residents and landscape quality. This tends to set up local conflicts. It is very common in Scotland for windfarm applications to be refused by local councils, after which the power companies appeal and force a public enquiry. Clatto Hill is by no means the only place in Scotland facing ever larger turbines ever closer to where people live.
The UK Government has set the goal of a 20% reduction in CO2 omissions by the year 2010. The Scottish Executive is looking for 17% - 18% of the electricity generated in Scotland to be from renewables, using “the Renewables Obligation”.
It does not! Further into the future, the Government wants much more of our energy to be generated from renewable sources. It sees most of this coming from wave, tide and offshore wind, and very recently plans have been announced for massive offshore winfarms off the coast of Southeast England (where the power is most needed). Around Scotland there is massive potential. Wave and tide power are getting closer to commercialisation. The Scottish Executive has set up a forum called FREDS (Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland). One of its tasks is to identify what steps are needed for energy from the sea to become fully commercial. Scottish universities are said to have the best expertise in Europe on how to harness energy from the sea. The Scottish Renewables Forum, representing businesses in the renewables sector, claims that an important obstacle to remove for wave and tide energy production is the early financial risks. It looks to Government to help with this.
There are also other sources. Solar power is gradually becoming more economic. Fife is considered an especially good area for biomass energy production (growing trees, often willow, which are harvested as coppice and burned as fuel for electricity generation- the growing of the trees absorbs as moch CO2 as the burning produces).
In the headlong rush of the power companies to put wind turbines on many of the prominent hills of Scotland, it is perhaps worth pondering the Government’s perception of our electricity resources in the year 2020.
The Government’s Energy White Paper, February 2003: “The backbone of the electricity system will still be a market-based grid, balancing the supply of large power stations. But some of those power stations will be offshore marine plants, including wave, tidal and windfarms. Generally smaller onshore windfarms will also be generating.”
A committee of 22 Fife councillors, called the Economic and Development Committee will decide sometime in 2004. Details of when are awaited. They could approve the application, approve the application with conditions, or refuse the application. It is also possible that the planners could indicate to Scottish Power an intention to recommend refusal to the Committee, which could lead to a modified proposal.
Before it decides, the Committee gets a full report from the Head of Development Services. Fife Council has decided it will ask the East and Central Area Planning Committees for informal observations.
The application was advertised by the Council on 24 October as:
Following this the Council has decided to hold a Hearing at which the people who have made representations about the application may be heard very briefly.
Scottish Power could, if it so wishes, could appeal. The appeal would likely lead to a public enquiry.
Scottish Power has authority to proceed. There would be a possibility (remote) that the application could be “called in” by the Scottish Executive.
If any party felt that the Council failed to handle the application properly, that party could try for a judicial review.
The Scottish Executive issues policy guidance on various aspects of planning. SPP1 describes the Scottish planning system. In guiding the future use of land, “the aim is to ensure that development and changes in land use occur in suitable locations and are sustainable. The planning system must also provide protection from inappropriate development.” In doing this, it is recognised that the planning system must try to resolve conflicts which arise in pursuit of different objectives.
A document called NPPG6 describes Scottish Executive planning policy on renewable energy. The Scottish Executive’s aim is to ensure that the commitment to renewable energy is satisfied and supported through development plan policies and development control decisions. It expects developers to be guided by council development plans (para.20). It is worthy of note in this context that Fife Council’s Structure Plan was approved by Scottish Ministers after this policy was established and after the Renewables Obligation came into effect. Presumably they felt that Fife’s structure plan was consistent with this aim.
NPPG6 does acknowledge (para.22) that locally important areas may be protected by development plans. However it states that the level of protection will not be as high as national and internationally designated areas. (Clatto Hill is designated as an area of great landscape value).
In relation to the local community, NPPG6 states that “developments should not be permitted where they would have a significant long term detrimental impact on the amenity of people living nearby, and where the impact cannot be mitigated satisfactorily.” (para.22). Later in NPPG6 (para.32), residential amenity is addressed again. “It is important that the detailed proposals … address residential amenity and ensure that, by careful location and sensitive design … amenity is not subject to significant adverse effects.”
NPPG6 acknowledges that the character of the local landscape is an “important consideration” and refers to SNH’s programme of landscape character assessments.
Generally, the planning system guides change through processes intended to respect the rights of the individual while acting in the interests of the wider community.
Specifically, the development plan is the set of policies by which the Council decides planning applications. The aim of the policies is to ensure that development occurs in suitable locations and provides protection from inappropriate development.
The Development Plan draws on many other policy documents or guides. One of these is a “Customer Guideline” called Renewable Energy, dated September 2002.
SP1 – introduces a precautionary principle which the Council intends to apply “whenever the environmental implications of a development are unclear.”
SS1 – about restricting development in rural locations. It includes reference to the “need to retain and enhance the landscape setting of settlements”.
N1 – about respecting the key features and character of the landscape. This policy includes the statements, “Development in Areas of Great Landscape Value will be supported only where it can be shown that it will maintain or enhance the character of the landscape.” And “The Fife Landscape Character Assessment will be a material consideration in the assessment of development proposals.”
(The Fife Landscape Character Assessment was produced jointly by Scottish Natural Heritage and Fife Council. It gives a full description of the various types of landscape around Fife and how it should be safeguarded when developments are being considered.)
R7 – Wind Turbines – This policy is about declaring a preference for wind turbines to be sited in “broad areas of search” based on the lower hill and less sensitive coastal areas of Fife. Clatto Hill is in an area so designated. This is not surprising since almost all of Fife is contained within the “broad area of search” for windfarm sites.
This policy includes the statement, “Within such areas, proposals are most likely to be supported where they do not have a significant detrimental effect on the amenity of nearby residents.” The text of the Structure Plan acknowledges that “all turbines will impact on the environment though how they do, and how significantly the do, will depend on their number and scale.”
RE1 – Wind Turbines – this policy indicates proposals for wind turbines will be supported provided they are not located on migratory or roosting/breeding/feeding flight paths of birds and “consistent with other development plan policies and proposals”. This policy also refers to the importance of the Fife Landscape Character Assessment.
This Local plan draws attention to the area being “an attractive place in which to live” and “popular as a tourist and visitor destination”. It describes the importance of sustainability, while considering development proposals, with the aim of improving “the quality of life and quality of environment by providing for individual and community needs while ensuring the availability of resources for future generations.” This already hints at the Council’s planning role of reconciling an adverse impact of wind turbines on the local area with the need for energy generated from renewable resources which minimise CO2 omissions.
The Local Plan promotes constaining necessary new developments to urban areas ,acknowledging that there may be “exceptional situations”. This reflects a very high regard for the rural environment of Fife and the likelihood of adverse impact from any developments out of scale with its special character.
COU1 – Outwith settlement limits – Among other things, this policy states that “development will only be supported where it can demonstrate that neutral or positive net environmental impact will occur.”
COU2 – sympathy with local landscape character – This policy indicates that countryside developments must be “sympathetic to the local landscape character in terms of scale, form use of materials and visual impact.”
COU4 – Areas of Great Landscape Value – Quoting this policy in full – “Within an AGLV, development which is supported under other policies in this Local Plan must maintain or enhance the character of the landscape through the highest standards of design and finish.”
Paragraph 4.9 of the Local Plan, in the section on AGLVs, indicates that mineral exploitation and isolated hilltop development are particularly inappropriate in AGLVs.
The Fife Landscape Character Assessment: This was produced by consultants for the Council and Scottish Natural Heritage in 1999 helps assess the capacity of the landscape to accommodate future development. It makes specific reference to the pressure for windfarm developments and comments on how the area in which Clatto Hill is included should be considered in this regard.
COU9 – about protecting habitats, species, geological features of local or regional importance – This policy seeks to protect habitats, species and geological features by not normally permitting development with adverse impacts in those respects, unless the economic and social benefits outweigh the natural heritage value of the site.
This links to the Fife Biodiversity Action Plan
COU10 – about habitats and migration – wildlife habitats with a migration or dispersal value to wild flora or fauna will be safeguarded from development.
With regard to renewable energy technologies, the Local Plan recognises limited potential in Fife because of the area’s physical features and climate.
COU19 – about renewable energy – Quoting in full: “Renewable energy developments will be supported provided that there is no significant adverse impact on local communities and/or the built and natural environment.”
Paragraphs 4.31 and 4.32 go on to describe how any proposals will be assessed. These indicate that a positive view of renewable energy proposals will be taken, while considering them in the context of the Local Plan’s natural environment policies. In the case of windfarm developments, “the visual impact on the landscape will be a particularly important consideration”.
Section 25 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 requires that planning decisions “shall be made in accordance with the [development] plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.” Arising out of a case which went to the House of Lords in 1998, it appears there must be compelling reasons for any departure from the Development Plan. In other words, the material considerations must be very substantial.
A Planning Advice Note (No.41) from the Scottish Executive offers best practice advice in cases of a departure from the Development Plan. It is considered best practice to give those who have made representations about a proposal a chance to be heard at the planning committee or a special hearing. In this case, we understand that the Council intends to hold a hearing, possibly in March 2004.
This is a Scottish Natural Heritage document drawn up in 1999 in partnership with Fife Council. It describes the various types of landscape in Fife and recommends how to protect their qualities. The Council will look closely at this document when considering the environmental impact of the proposal for wind turbines on Clatto Hill. The volcanic hills and craigs, of which Clatto Hill forms part, are quite unique in Europe due to their age and the extreme volcanic activity seen here many millions of years ago. They are seen as quite distinctive in the landscape affecting views from them and towards them. The Fife landscape Character Assessment includes a recommendation that any tall structures try to minimise their effect on the skyline. The proposal for seventeen 93 metre high turbines cannot meet this aim. In fact, the document advises steering windfarm developments away from exposed ridgelines and summits and from locations where their visual influence would extend across the lowlands of Fife. Yet this windfarm proposal would be seen from most of central Fife, it is so exposed.
It seems clear to us that this proposal is on such a massive scale that it would be totally inappropriate on Clatto Hill. As such it would have a hugely detrimental impact on our landscape in central Fife, and be an overbearing and dominant feature of the lives of hundreds of people who would live right beside it. There may be possible adverse health effects on those people as well.
We also believe there would be a detrimental effect on wildlife and tourism, as well as spoil a very beautiful area for peaceful recreation. It will ruin local roads and cause major road safety problems in its construction.
Taking all those factors into account, the proposal does not, in our view, comply with many of the Council’s planning policies designed to protect the very things it threatens.
Such a disfigurement of our landscape in Fife should only be allowed if this were the ONLY way to develop energy from renewable sources. It is clear that onshore wind will form a relatively small part of our country’s future renewable energy generating capacity, and so there is no need for contentious proposals to be approved. There is therefore no case for this proposal in this place!
Clatto Hill is at present a mixture of farmland and forestry, with a number of footpaths and bridlepaths, much used by walkers and riders as a quiet peaceful haven. It is also a haven for many animals and birds, there is a nature reserve at Clatto Loch, less than 2 Km from the nearest turbine, much frequented by Whooper Swans and Pink-footed Geese. Other important bird species observed on the hill include: Short-eared Owls, Barn Owls, Peregrine Falcons, and Osprey. Recently observed mammal species on the hill include: Otters, Badgers, Roe Deer, Red and Grey Squirrels, Brown Hares, and Foxes.
Scottish power have applied for planning permission for 17 turbines each 93 metres high, many of which would be on the skyline. adding about half again to the height of the hill. The ouput would be about 30MW maximum, for the at best 30% when the wind is right.It is hard to visualise 93 vertical metres, but it is equivalent to about 300 feet or 100 yards, that is the length of a championship football pitch. Here are some aids to undWithstanding the size of the proposed turbines:
The Statue of Liberty is 93 metres from bottom of base plinth to tip of torch. |
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This is a photograph of a 93 metre turbine at Deucheran Hill in KintyreBear in mind that the photograph was taken from ground level, so suffers from the usual foreshortening effect which happens when you take photographs looking up at tall structures. |
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The span of the blades (66metres) is about the same size as a jumbo jet!So this proposal is equivalent in scale to 17 giant airliners rotating on the Statue of Liberty! OK, that is a bit wild, but it makes the point: these are VERY large structures. |
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