I NOTE with interest your article on revised Scottish Natural Heritage
guidelines on wind farm applications (“Crackdown on misleading pictures in
wind farm plans”, The Herald, August 1).
Parts of the article paint an unrealistic picture of the renewables
industry by claiming our recently-published wind farm visualisation
guidelines propose more stringent measures against the sector.
The reality is that these new guidelines were developed in collaboration
with the industry, planners and landscape specialists. They will help
ensure a consistent and proportionate approach to wind farm visualisations
across the country by providing more accurate information for
decision-makers. The new guidance learns from good practice and updates and
modernises similar advice from 2006 which has been followed by industry.
Peter Hutchinson,
Planning and Renewables Unit manager,
Scottish Natural Heritage,
Battleby, Redgorton, Perth.
SO Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has issued new guidelines to wind farm
developers which will result in planning applications giving a clearer
impression of how a wind farm would sit in the landscape.
As long ago as 2000, as I recall, people were pointing out the inadequacies
of photomontage and the so-called zone of theoretical visibility and asking
SNH to look to its remit and provide proper guidelines.
Would someone like to revisit the planning applications of the past 14
years to see how many intrusive sites might have been turned down if SNH
had issued adequate guidelines? Perhaps not: had any of them been refused,
the Scottish Government, as always, would have consented the applications
on appeal.
Gillian Bishop,
Woodside Cottage,
Ryelands,
Strathaven.
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