Sanquhar II Community Wind Farm
Sanquhar II Community Wind Farm - Site Updates
Since the submission of the Sanquhar II Community Wind Farm S36 application and the accompanying EIAR and supporting documents in March 2019, we have been undertaking consultation with various consultees.
As a result of this and the Regulation 19 request, we have collated the 'Additional Information' and this has now been provided to the consultees, which has now been formally submitted under Regulation 20 of the EIAR Regulations.
The design changes and their justification are summarised briefly below:
- Removal of turbines 11, 12, 13 and 14 and associated access tracks due to concerns being raised over Landscape and Visual impacts by East Ayrshire Council;
- Removal of turbines 47 and 48 and associated access tracks due to concerns raised over the Landscape and Visual impacts by Dumfries and Galloway Council.
- Turbine 10 has also been moved 163m east to an area that will be less visible at certain viewpoints, particularly from the Afton Road viewpoint;
- Removal of one borrow pit due to SEPA’s concerns about the surrounding peat;
- Addition of a satellite substation for easier transmission of power back to the main substation;
- Removal of the Construction and Storage Compound south of T26 due to SEPA’s concerns about the surrounding peat;
- Increase in the operational life of the wind farm from 35 years to 40 years, from the date of commissioning.
A new site layout plan can be found below and a more detailed site plan is viewable here.
Additional Information
The 'Additional Information' submission will consist of the following key elements, plus other general updates;
- Updated Section 2: Detailed Project Description to explain the removal of 6 turbines and associated infrastructure, removal of one borrow pit, the addition of one satellite substation and the removal of a construction compound. Information relating to changing the operational lifetime of the wind farm from 35 years to 40 years from the date of commissioning. Due to the reduction in the size of the scheme and changes to infrastructure this section will also include updated land take and carbon calculations;
- Updated LVIA (Section 6) information as requested by East Ayrshire Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council and Scottish Natural Heritage. The section contains updated photomontages and additional wirelines from request viewpoints and shows the impacts of the reduced scheme;
- Fully updated Section 7: Ornithology Assessment which now covers the two-year survey period;
- Updated Section 8: Ecology which covers updates on Bat and Ecology surveys;
- Revised Peat Slide Risk Assessment;
- Revised Peat Management Plan;
- Revised Private Water Supplies Information;
- Updated Section 11: Noise due to the reduction in the size of the scheme;
- Updated Section 12: Traffic and Transport to show new construction movement figures and provide an update on access to the site;
- Updated Section 13: Other Considerations to address comments made by aviation consultees and to provide an update on agreements that have been made;
- Revised Commitment to Communities report highlighting the changes that have been made regarding investments relating to the scheme.
All of the further information that has been submitted to the ECU can be found here on our website, at the top of the 'Planning Documentation' page and should be read alongside the original EIAR submission.
Additional Information - Community Benefits
As part of the community benefits for the Community Windpower (CWL) Sanquhar II Community Wind Farm, CWL is proposing to offer Community Benefit Funding of £2,500 per MW of the available grid capacity for the scheme. This is to be shared among the local host communities. Each area would utilise its own Trust Fund, either by creating a new one, or using an existing facility. These would subsequently manage and administer the funding for their area. The funding would be made available following full commissioning of the wind farm.
CWL submitted an application in January 2020 to Dumfries and Galloway Council to build a £1 million 3G sports pitch in the Upper Nithsdale area which will end the communities 15 year wait for this kind of facility. CWL is pleased to announce that this application was subsequently given planning approval in March 2020. The site is located north of Sanquhar and will be located on the playing field site that is adjacent to the A76 Glasgow Road.
The project will consist of a new synthetic sports pitch and associated facilities including access path, fencing, floodlighting and storage areas. The new pitch within the Sanquhar Academy Playing Fields is an integral component of the delivery of the local school’s sports curriculum, as the playing surface is suitable for use all year round and will be used to engage with and deliver sporting opportunities to the local community.
The pitch will cost approximately £1 million to build and upon its competition will be handed over to Dumfries and Galloway Council to run and maintain.
CWL proposes that a detailed study is carried out to look at feedback from the local communities to establish what they think the community benefit fund should be used for and what needs investment in the local area.