Background to Hill of Corskie Wind Farm
The Oosterhof family, Sjirk, Thyna and Peter, farm in Aberdeenshire, near Fraserburgh. They bought the Hill of Corskie in 1999 to graze sheep, which qualified for the ‘intensification’ subsidy scheme at the time. With the changing subsidy fules raound 2005 and the scraping of the intensification payments, it was no longer economical to graze tock on the hill.
Airtricity, a wind farm developer, approached us around 2005 with a view to develop four 100m wind turbines of 2.3MW each. Half way through the application process Airtricity were bought out by a larger developer who decided this project was too small for them to pursue. We decided to complete the work and submit their proposal on our own account. This application was refused consent by Aberdeenshire Council. It was subsequently appealed and this was dismissed by the Scottish Executive on mainly landscape and visual impact grounds due to the height of the turbines.
We now propose to develop a wind farm of 10 medium sized commercial scale wind turbines with a blade tip no greater than 77m in height (in line with the landscape officers points from the previous application) and with a rated capacity of 900kW each and ancillary infrastructure.
Other future uses for the land at Corskie we may consider are using that naturally regenerated wood to feed a biomass boiler and recreational uses such as mountain biking if there was an interest expressed by local groups.
Community Benefit
We intend to offer 10% of the whole project to the community which would equate to either one turbine site or 10% of the whole project, depending on what the preference of the community is found to be. There are several mechanisms by which 10% community ownership could be achieved, we have already had discussion with the Huntly Development Trust and are keen to engage with other community groups before deciding on a final solution.
As well as offering 10% of the project to the community, we propose to offer £5000 per MW (or the 90% of the project that we will retain) annually to a community benefit fund; which would equate to £40,500 available each year for community groups to make use of.
Initial Site Layout
The site is located on rough grazing land to the west of Gartly Moor. The site lies in an area which does not carry any national planning designations. The turbines will have a hub height of 55m and a maximum blade tip height of 77m. The project would be classed as a small scale wind farm of 10 ‘medium’ turbines under the Aberdeenshire Supplementary Planning Guidance. The final turbine selection will be influenced by the findings of hte various Environmental Assessments and will be subject to a tendering process. However, a candidate turbine (the Enercon E44 900kW turbine) will be used as the basis for assessment and will represent the maximum credible impact option.
Access
It is intended that the turbines would be landed at Aberdeen harbour. From there they would follow the same route as the Glens of Foundland turbines to the A96 and along the A96 to a point approximately 7km south east of Huntly. From the A96 they would turn left on to the unclassified road that runs south past Gartly Moor for approximately 2km. From the unclassified road they would turn right onto a forest track which leads to the site through the Gartly Moor plantation, approximately 4km.
Environmental Assessments
A number of environmental assessments are currently being undertaken. These will be incorporated into an Environmental Statement for the purposes of the Planning EIA Regulations. The assessments include:
Ecology.
Surface & Groundwater Hydrology.
Landscape & Visual Impact Assessment; Cumulative Landscape & Visual Impact Assessment.
Noise Impact Assessment.
Cultural Heritage Assessment.
Existing Infrastructure.
Shadow Flicker.
Timescale
All of the environmental surveys will complete by mid August 2012 and it is currently planned to submit the planning application by the end of August 2012.
