Venue: Main Hall, Queens Hall, Argyll Street, Dunoon
Contact: Fiona McCallum Tel. No. 01546 604392
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Robin Currie, Rory Colville and Mary-Jean Devon. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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Report by Head of Planning, Housing and Regulatory Services Additional documents:
Minutes: The
Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made. He then outlined the procedure that would be
followed and invited the Head of Governance and Law to identify all those who
wished to speak. PLANNING Arlene
Knox presented the planning application on behalf of the Head of Planning,
Housing and Regulatory Services. She
asked Members to note that the report of handling should be read in conjunction
with Supplementary Report 1 which
provided corrections to the commentary set out under sections P and U of the
main report and Supplementary Report 2 which updated Members on representations
and consultation responses received since the proposal was last reported to
committee. A
total of 15 additional letters of objection have been received, including: a
letter of objection from Councillor Alan Reid, withdrawal of a letter of
representation, and a request to speak in support of the proposal today. These late items do not raise any new
material considerations. The revised totals are as follows: a total of 377
letters have been received, comprising 315 Objections, 56 letters of support
and 4 general representations. A
further consultee response has also been received from Kilmun Community Council
confirming that they are remaining neutral and are not making any objection to
the application, due to the lack of objections made to them. Scottish
Natural Heritage has formally objected to the proposal on the grounds that it
would have an adverse effect on the special qualities and integrity of the
Kyles of Bute National Scenic Area. SNH
consider that these effects cannot be mitigated. SNH also have significant concerns regarding
the landscape and visual impacts of this proposal. The Scottish Wild Land Group also object on
the grounds that they believe the environmental and other impacts hugely
outweigh any benefits. No
objections have been raised by any other consultees, subject to appropriate
conditions in the event that planning permission were to be granted. In the
event that Members are minded to grant planning permission against the
recommendation of Officers, it should be noted that the proposal will be
required to be notified to Scottish Ministers due to the fact that the
statutory consultee SNH has objected. The
main report covers a number of topic areas, however, following a brief
description of the development, she advised she would focus on the key area of
concern to Officers & SNH, specifically the landscape & visual impact
of the proposal, as all other issues are either acceptable or can be mitigated
by appropriate planning conditions. A
pack of graphics was circulated during the site visit yesterday, which was
supplied by the Applicants to assist in the appreciation of the proposal in its
landscape setting, which Members may wish to refer to during this presentation. The
site is located within the Ardtaraig Estate which is approximately 3.1km to the
east of Glendaruel and 17km North West of Dunoon. The site itself is an area of
open, rugged moorland on the west facing flank of A’Chruach and is surrounded
on all sides by commercial forestry plantations. The A866 runs parallel along
the western boundary of the site. The
B836 lies to the south east of the site. The proposal is located immediately to
the south of the existing Cruach Mhor windfarm which has 35 turbines, 71m in
height. Cruach Mhor wind farm occupies a rare area of slacker ground on the
western edge of more complex craggy terrain which occurs to the east and is
relatively well-screened with limited visibility. The
application is for a wind energy development comprising: the erection, 25-year
operation and subsequent decommissioning of seven wind turbines up to 136.5m at
their highest point, together with off-site vehicular access, on-site access
tracks, hardstanding areas, a substation battery storage facility and control
building compound, borrow pits and cabling. During construction, a temporary
construction compound would also be required to house a site office and welfare
facilities. Access
to the site will be via the existing Cruach Mhor wind farm entrance, located
directly off the A886. Turbines
would have a maximum blade tip height of 136.5 metres and a rotor diameter of
117 metres. Each wind turbine would have a capacity of approximately 4.2 MW,
giving a total installed capacity of 29.4 MW. The
substation compound would comprise a hardstanding and a single storey building
such as this which would house switchgear, metering, protection and control
equipment as well as welfare facilities. A battery storage facility is also
proposed to be incorporated to further maximise the electricity generated from
the proposed wind turbines. The
site is located within ‘Very Sensitive Countryside’ as defined by the Local
Development Plan. Within ‘Very Sensitive
Countryside’ Policy DM 1 encourages sustainable forms of renewable energy
development located on appropriate sites.
It is considered that the proposal is contrary to the provisions of this
policy as the site is not considered to be ‘appropriate’ due to the significant
adverse landscape and visual effects the proposal is likely to have. It is
considered that due to these adverse effects the proposal cannot be considered
to be sustainable. Supplementary
Guidance has been prepared in accordance with SPP which provides a Spatial
Framework for wind farms and wind turbine developments over 50 metres high. The
site is located in a Group 2 area of significant protection where wind farms
may be acceptable, if it can be demonstrated that any significant effects on
the qualities of these areas can be substantially overcome by siting, design or
other mitigation. The
site is located within a Group 2 area as defined by SPP and Supplementary Guidance
due to the mapped presence of Class 2 nationally important carbon rich soils,
potentially of high conservation value and restoration potential. Following the advice of SNH and SEPA, it is
not considered that this status would be an impediment to the proposal being
permitted subject to conditions to secure a Peat Management Plan and a Habitat
Management Plan. The turbines are located 1.77km from the northern boundary of Kyles of Bute National Scenic Area and ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |