ASH provided landscape and visual impact assessment for the adjacent Strathy North and South wind farms in Sutherland

ASH was commissioned in 2004 by Scottish & Southern Energy (now SSE Renewables) to carry out a landscape and visual impact assessment for two adjacent windfarm proposals in Sutherland. ASH was also asked to advise and co-ordinate constraints, layout and mitigation proposals as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Key Tasks

Landscape and visual impact assessment

Cumulative landscape and visual impact assessment

Photography

Photomontages

Stakeholder consultation

Public consultation

 

What we did

Both Strathy North (35 turbines generating 80.5 MW) and Strathy South (originally 77 turbines generating 177 MW) are located in forestry plantations situated to the south of Strathy Village.

Within 10km of the site periphery (where significant visual impacts are most likely to be found), the proposals are generally well-screened from potential receptors by topography. This is because a majority of settlement and roads are situated in the deeply incised valleys of Strathnaver to the west and Strath Halladale to the east and on land sloping to the sea in the north. Furthermore, views to the south are effectively screened by Ben Griam Mor and Ben Griam Beg and their foothills.

The Environmental Statements (now referred to as EIA Reports) for the Strathy North and Strathy South proposed Wind Farms were published in 2007. Consent for Strathy North Wind Farm was granted by the Scottish Ministers in November 2011 and the site became fully operational in 2015.

ASH continued to support SSE on Strathy South Wind Farm, with LVIA input into an Addendum in 2013 and a Further Information Report in 2014, in addition to acting as Expert Witness at the subsequent PLI in 2015. The development received consent from the Scottish Ministers in April 2018 for a 39 turbine scheme with a generating capacity of 133MW.

 

Find out more

We’re always happy to answer your questions. If you’d like to find out more about the services we can offer for your project, you can email us on info@ashglasgow.com or call 0141 227 3388.