You may remember our post last week giving details of the appeal launched by Leslie Sinclair against the granting of planning consent by Scottish Ministers for two Orkney Island Council wind farms? In both cases the Reporters had recommended REFUSAL.
Appeal papers have now been lodged at the Court of Session in Edinburgh and we will keep you updated with any progress.
SAS subsequently received a request from residents on Orkney asking for our help to object to another application for Hesta Head Wind Farm which was granted on appeal on 18 April 2019. This current Section 42 application seeks to vary Condition 1 (to extend planning permission from 25-30 years) And Condition 21 (to extend electricity generation and decommissioning from 25-30 years). This has now been appealed to DPEA due to non determination by the Council. (DPEA ref no PPA-330-2031).
The closing date for representations is 9 March and they can be emailed to Morag.Smith@gov.scot
Residents have kindly supplied a bullet point list of material considerations to make our lives easy. You may pick and choose which ones you want to include in your objection or use them all. Please add a sentence of your own at the start, such as, I object to this application because….. or This application should be refused because……………. in order to make representations more personal and stop them being classed as a pro forma submission. Please also remember to put DPEA Planning Appeal Reference Number: PPA-330-2031 in the subject box and add your name and address at the bottom.
Many thanks, we hope you can help Orkney!
- Invalid Section 42 Appeal
- A Section 42 Application is to develop without compliance with conditions previously attached. Subsection (4) of Section 42 states this section does not apply if the previous permission was granted subject to a time condition within which the development was to be started and that time has expired without the development having been begun.
- Scottish Planning Series Planning Circular 3/2013 at Annex I Applications for Planning Permission para 5) states this does not preclude the consideration of where the previous permission has lapsed or is incapable of being implemented.
- In the time since the appeal decision was made Hesta Wind Farm Ltd. has failed to meet the requirement of Condition 3 of DPEA consent, requiring submission of a timetable for the construction period to be agreed with the Planning Authority.
- As a direct result of this failure, the permission has become incapable of being implemented.
- Currency of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
- Hesta Wind Farm Ltd. has requested that Condition 1 of the consent be varied from twenty-five years to thirty years, and that Condition 3 of the consent be varied from three years to five years.
- These extensions are likely to result in significant changes to EIA data.
- There are already significant concerns relating to the probable substantial negative effects on the important population of peregrine falcon in the vicinity of the site.
- For that reason alone, this Application should be treated as a new development, and not as a Section 42 variation.
- The original application indicated a 23% reduction in the already small Orkney population of peregrine falcon with the windfarm, as compared to without the windfarm.
- The Lifetime Extension Report submitted by the potential developer as part of the Section 42 Application also identifies a significant impact on peregrine collision risk mortality, indicating the extension in lifespan would increase the total risk to peregrines by 20%.
- Stated socio-economic effects of the potential development
- The decision, DPEA Reference Number: PPA-330-2023, at Condition 1 specified the duration of the consent as twenty-five years.
- The potential developer has submitted the report produced by Biggar Economics The Economic Benefits of Costa Head and Hesta Head Wind Farms August 2021 in support of their appeal. This report, at page 25, refers to the report produced by Gutteridge Haskins and Davey Limited (GHD) A transmission link for Orkney: An impact analysis on the Orkney economy 25 May 2021.
- The GHD Report, in its Executive summary at The benefit to the Orkney economy, states clearly that quoted Gross Value Added (GVA) estimates are based on forty-five year lifespans for the potential windfarm.
- Based on the consented twenty-five year lifespan for the proposed Hesta Head development, GVA estimates are therefore incorrect and potentially misleading in the context of this Appeal.
- Jones Lang LaSalle Application Cover Letter 6 October 2021
- The SSEN Needs Case for a 220MW interconnector between Orkney and Caithness does not define the proposed Hesta Head development as necessary for installation of the interconnector. Therefore, this is irrelevant.
- Neither OFGEM Needs Case approval requirements nor proposed grid connection dates defined the proposed Hesta Head development as part of their consideration. Therefore, this is irrelevant.
- It may be the case that turbine technology has advanced, and that longer warranties are available on capital equipment, which may lead to longer consent durations.
- It may be the case that the potential developer has determined that increased lifespan may be able to offer increased carbon savings and increased socio-economic benefits.
- It is less than three years since the Reporter determined, on Appeal, that consent should be limited to twenty-five years.
- The potential developer has provided no rigorous proof that increased carbon savings and socio-economic benefits will accrue. Therefore, these claims are irrelevant.
- Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 3 (AR3)
- A CfD for Hesta Head Wind Farm, with a 20.40MW capacity, was awarded on 11 October 2019.
- Condition 4.1 of the CfD requires that a Milestone Requirement notice is provided twelve months after the Milestone Delivery Date, occurring twelve months after the Agreement Date.
- The published Agreement Date was 11 October 2019, so a MR notice was due on 11 October 2020.
- It is unclear whether Hesta Wind Farm Ltd. submitted the Milestone Requirement notice.
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