Otterham

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OTTERHAM

The first application to build wind turbines at Otterham was made by a local landowner in December 1993. It was for 10 turbines, each 36m [117 ft] from base to blade tip height sited alongside the A39 near Otterham. The application was refused by the North Cornwall District Council in June 1994.

The main grounds for refusal were the site's proximity to the local Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the culmulative visual impact on the landscape which this and the existing sites at Cold North Cott and Delabole would create. There was no appeal on this decision.

The second application for this site was made by Powergen Renewables in May 2002, this time for 5 turbines, each 71 metres (233 ft) high. This was refused in January 2003 for the same reasons as the first. Powergen did not appeal.

The third proposal was made by Windelectric Management Ltd in June 2006. It was for precisely the same layout as the previous one. This would seem to demonstrate a profoundly cynical belief of the applicants that opposition can be worn down by repetitive applications and that the opinions and decisions of local residents and their elected Council can be safely ignored.

An area of Outstanding Natural Beauty should be protected from intrusions such as wind turbines. This site is only 100 metres from the edge of the AONB. If approval were given to this application it would set a precedent which would mean that every designated area, from national Parks downwards, would be open to invasion by these inefficient and obtrusive machines.

Objections can still be made to this scheme and will provide a very real contribution to the campaign against the spoiling of our landscape.

URGENT - PLEASE OBJECT TO THIS APPLICATION. DETAILS OF HOW TO DO THIS ARE HERE

We already have two wind farms close to this proposed new development. The Cornwall Energy Study recommends a 7km buffer zone around existing wind farms. Appendix 3 - Figure 5 [1.7Mb]

The proposed Otterham Wind farm is just on the edge of the buffer zones of both the existing Delabole and Cold Northcott windfarms and would also be within the buffer zones of the proposed windfarms at Davidstow Moor and Hendraburnick.

On the map in the above Appendix 3 link it states:

"Please note that the landscape sensitivity study has been based on an assessment of wind energy turbines of 1.3MW in size with a hub height of 65m."

Cornwall Energy Study: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4681

"Area 10 Central Cornwall North Facing

Spatial Guidance on Renewable Energy Development (continued)

Results 6.53

Area 10 Central Cornwall North Facing May provide some opportunity for accommodating carefully sited moderate scale wind farms (5-10 1.3 MW turbines). It is suitable in terms of landscape scale and is not designated for its scenic quality (either as an AONB, Heritage Coast or AGLV). However, it has a moderate sensitivity to wind farm development in terms of landscape character and the existence of two existing wind farms means that the majority of the area falls within the 7km buffer zones of these wind farms. More detailed inter-visibility studies will need to be undertaken to assess the capacity of the landscape to accept wind turbines."

Cornwall Energy Study http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4670

"Methodology that has been employed Spatial Guidance on Renewable Energy Development (continued)

Development stages 6.50 The methodology for assessing the suitability of locations for moderate or large scale wind farm developments has been undertaken in the following stages:

Firstly the character areas that were found to have a moderate-high or high sensitivity to wind turbine development were removed from the map (see Appendix 3 - Figure 4 [1.3Mb]). Secondly, all AONBs and Heritage Coasts were removed from the map since these scenic quality designations form a constraint to large-moderate scale wind farm development (see Figure 4). Thirdly, information on landform scale and landscape pattern were combined to indicate potentially suitable scales of wind farm development in the areas identified as having potential top accommodate wind turbines. The Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV) designation was considered less of a constraint to development assuming all other criteria were met. This is consistent with the content of PPS 22 as outlined in para 6.11. Areas that fell within the 7km buffer zone around existing wind farms were highlighted as potential areas of constraint indicating that further visibility analysis would be needed in these areas to fully understand inter-visibility issues."

Cornwall Energy Study - Full Contents: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3960

Planning Deveopment Control Committee - 7th September 2006. Agenda No. 8.1

Report by the Deputy Director: Planning, Transportation and Estates. http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/pdf/h/j/Item_8.pdf

Created by STINC

Last revised: December 09, 2007