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0901312
RECEIVED ON RECEIVED ON RECEIVED ON The Old School, East Baldwin, Isle of Man. IM4 5EB 28 JUL 2009 Tel/Fax: (01624) 851482
Email: [email protected]
Further Information: Planning application section 16.
Ballacashin Farm House, Abbylands has received planning permission to be refurbished. The proposed wind turbine will add further energy efficiency to that development. A previous planning application (09/354) was refused planning primarily due to locating the turbine on the highest ground making it too visible. This application aims to correct that visual objection and to also address the objections from neighbours as far as possible.
The proposed turbine is a Proven WT6000, rated at 6Kw electrical output, and is designed for domestic use. It is mounted on a 9m self-supporting tower. Being self-supporting means no guy wires are needed. The rotor diameter is 5.5m. The tower / turbine assembly tilts down for ease of installation / maintenance. The whole assembly is supported on a reinforced concrete base.
From a visibility point of view, the tower is galvanised steel grey. The turbine body and blades are matt black. These colours mean the turbine assembly blends into the background when viewed against a building, a hillside or trees from a moderate distance.
The turbine has been sited specifically to be as unobtrusive as possible. It is positioned towards the lower side of the property curtilage and its base will be at approximately the same height as the bottom of the property walls. The position of the tower has been selected to provide minimum visibility from the windows of Strenaby due to trees in the direct line of sight. Please see the picture below. Further trees can be planted on the boundary in line of sight to further obscure the view from Strenaby though this would take time for the trees to grow.
The selected position of the turbine is also obscured from Ballacashin bungalow by the mature tree on the site and by the hedges around Ballacashin. The large hedge around Barravore will prevent any view of the turbine from Barravore. The farm buildings of Strenaby fully obscure the turbine from any property to the southwest, for example Lower Strenaby. The properties to the northeast will be unable to view the turbine due to the hedges, trees and farm buildings around the houses.
The wind turbine will be visible from parts of the Abbylands valley road, but as the base is now approximately level with the Ballacashin Farm House ground level, the turbine head centre will be around 2.5 metres higher the house roof or 1.5m higher than the top of the house chimney's. The mature tree adjacent to the house is significantly higher than either the house or the turbine. The turbine is therefore not dominant on the site being similar to the house roof and well below the treetop. Please see the picture below.
The possibility of installing two smaller turbines, with combined output equal to the proposed turbine was considered, but this was dismissed as being more visual overall.
Objections to the previous planning application (09/354) were on the basis of visual intrusion, noise affecting animals in particular horses, and potential disruption of use of holiday cottages. The visual aspect is addressed above. There are no problems with wind turbines and farm animals. Similar wind turbines already in operation on the Island are in fields with horses (one at Lezayre and one that has been in operation for about 10 years, at Bride). Another turbine at Kirk Michael is in a field with goats.
The following comment is taken from the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) web site www.bwea.com/ref/faq.html#scare - wind energy frequently asked questions.
Wind farming is popular with farmers, because their land can continue to be used for growing crops or grazing livestock. Sheep, cows and horses are not disturbed by wind turbines.
The first wind farm built in the UK, Delabole, has a stud farm and riding school, and the farmer, Peter Edwards, often rides around the wind farm on his horse."
There are no known independent reports relating to the potential disruption of use of holiday cotrudes and small wind turbines, but a frequently asked question from the same page of the BWEA website (see reference above) is given below.
28 JUL 2009
There is no evidence to suggest this. The UK's first commercial wind farm at Delabole received 350,000 visitors in its first ten years of operation. A MORI poll in Scotland showed that $80 \%$ of tourists would be interested in visiting a wind farm. Furthermore, wind farm developers are often asked to provide a visitor centre, viewing platforms and rights of way to their sites. Find out more in an overview of tourism and wind energy. "
These references are directed at 'full sized wind farms' so only give a guide when related to a single small scale house sized wind turbine but are indicative of the general effects of wind turbines and the associated objections. It is to be expected that a single small wind turbine would have significantly less effects than a full scale wind farm.
The turbine self regulates at a maximum speed of 300 rpm (revolutions per minute), which is quite slow. It does not use a gearbox assembly. These two design parameters mean the noise produced by the turbine is low. Noise measurements produced by the manufacturer indicate the turbine does not produce noise levels above the ambient wind noise.
The manufacturer measured noise levels are: For a 50 m .p.h. wind speed: Background wind noise produced mainly from the wind blowing through small trees 5 m away from the point of the measurement -60 dB . Turbine noise read at a point 2 m from the tower base and with the sound meter pointed directly at the turbine rotor -60 dB
For a 12 m .p.h. wind speed (gentle breeze): Under the same conditions as for the 50 mph readings, the recorded noise value was 45 dB and was again not distinguishable between background wind noise and turbine noise on the sound meter. A gentle swishing noise is heard when at the base of the turbine but this does not increase the sound meter reading. As a reference, a car passing on a road (car travelling at 40 mph , and the sound reading taken 15 m from the road) gave readings between 70 and 80 dB .
The energy policy of the Isle of Man Government supports power generation from sustainable means as a way of reducing the Islands dependency on imported fossil fuel. This proposal would contribute to the IOM commitments to reduce the effects of global warming. This proposed installation will save an estimated 4960 kg of CO₂ (the main greenhouse gas) emissions per annum based on an assumed average CO₂ emission of 0.414 kg/kWh and a turbine output estimate of 12000 kWhrs.
The picture below is the view from the site base, looking towards Strenaby farmhouse, and shows the trees in line with the windows of Strenaby farmhouse. The trees will mask the view of the turbine as far as possible.
28 JUL 2009
The picture below is the view of the site, looking from the Abbyland Road at a point where there is a gap in the trees and bushes along the roadside. It indicates the relative height and visibility of the Ballacashin farmhouse, mature tree and wind turbine (by considering the turbine as being to the left of the tree and its height as being 2.5 metres above the house roof (the chimneys on the house are approximately 1 meter for reference). {{image:314529}}
The picture below is the view from the turbine base, looking towards Ballacashin bungalow. It shows the dominance of the mature tree on the site and that Ballacashin bungalow and the houses to the northeast of the site are obscured from view of the turbine. {{image:314530}}
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