Onshore Development - Public Perception
of Turbines in the Landscape
Session C7 | Day 2, Wed 26 Oct, 14.30-15.45 | Charter 2, Ground Floor
This session will explore new ways of influencing the way in which wind farms are perceived in the landscape. The use of visualisations and differing methodologies will also be explored.
• Chair: Rachel Ruffle, RES and RenewableUK Board Member
• Caroline Stanton, Edinburgh College of Art
• Colin Goodrum, LDA Design
• Bill Blackledge, 2B Landscape Consultancy Ltd
| Chair: Rachel Ruffle, Development Director – UK & Ireland, RES and RenewableUK Board Member Rachel is responsible for all aspects of RES’ onshore wind development in the UK and Ireland. Rachel manages a team of 40 project managers, surveyors and community relations specialists with offices in Larne, Glasgow, Cardiff and Kings Langley. She is accountable for all aspects of a large portfolio of projects from site selection, through planning to financial close. Previously, Rachel worked in RES’ technical department modelling energy yield, power performance and impacts on aviation and communications. Before joining RES in 1994, Rachel worked for JP Morgan devising pricing and risk assessment methods for financial derivatives. Prior to that, Rachel was a Research Engineer for British Telecom. Rachel is a Chartered Engineer. |
Speaker: Caroline Stanton, Consultant Landscape Architect and PhD Researcher, Edinburgh College of Art - Edinburgh University Dominating Or Diminutive? Determining the Scale Effects of Wind Turbines in the Landscape People find it difficult to judge the scale of wind turbines, and this can cause all kind of problems when they then predict the effect of a proposed development. To address this difficulty, this presentation describes research being carried out on how people really perceive scale in the landscape. This is informed by technical information on how humans view their surroundings, together with the findings of professional methods of landscape and visual impact assessment and public attitude survey. The presentation explains the distinct categories of scale effect that result from different sized wind turbines located in different landscapes. Caroline is a Chartered Landscape Architect who has assessed and designed windfarms for almost 20 years, working for both private Landscape Architecture consultants and Government advisor Scottish Natural Heritage. She has worked together with both proponents and opponents of wind energy development, providing independent advice to a range of developers, Planning Authorities, community groups and individual landowners. Caroline has also published guidance on the landscape and visual impacts of windfarms and is currently carrying out PhD research at Edinburgh College of Art on the perception of scale in the landscape with specific reference to wind turbines. |
| Speaker: Colin Goodrum, Senior Partner, LDA Design Visual Impact Issues of Onshore Wind Developments: The Pitfalls And Solutions 8/10 people approve of the concept of wind power yet less than 40% of onshore wind farms gain planning approval. So what does the industry need to do to redress the balance? Developers take care to consider noise pollution, proximity to residential areas and the impact of NIMBYism. But they seldom consider the possibility that a wind farm could be turned down simply because of the view of the turbines from a single house, and yet it can happen.. There’s no requirement to assess these impacts; no guidance either. But get it wrong and you might as well be whistling in the wind. LDA Design, will highlight the pitfalls and give guidance based on the experience of schemes approved at committee and inquiry. Colin Goodrum has over 27 years experience as a landscape architect and was the founder of LDA Design’s renewables team in 1995. His work has been wide ranging and includes major infrastructure projects; master planning and implementation, urban extensions and new settlements. His expertise in landscape planning and as an expert witness – appearing at over 75 Public Inquiries – has proved invaluable in the success of the firm’s and Colin’s renewable energy work. The practice has worked on in excess of 80 wind energy projects, and he has contributed to at least 13 consents in recent years. |
| Speaker: Bill Blackledge, Director, 2B Landscape Consultancy Ltd Public Perception – Accuracy, Honesty and Transparency in the Presentation of Wind Turbine Visualisations Are the visualisations presented by wind developers generally trusted by local residents and objector groups? A quick trawl of the internet would suggest that the answer is no. Basic questions of accuracy are often compounded with more technical issues relating to the way in which printed documentation is presented. When visualisations are thought, or found, to be inaccurate in any way, the industry is shooting itself in the foot. There are clear guidelines on presentation, which indicate best practice to be adhered to. In addition, we need to be sure that “industry-standard” approaches to generating photomontages are accurate and auditable. This presentation will questions some aspects of the standard approach, suggest ways in which this might be improved and seek debate from delegates on their experience and practice in this important area. Bill is a Chartered Landscape Architect with a broad range of experience within both public and private sectors. EIA and LVIA have been a major part of his professional activity for over two decades. His current workload is dominated by medium-scale wind turbine projects. Being something of a geek, he has always been drawn to the technical issues surrounding the production of visualisations. There are many visualisation "technicians" able to produce photomontages. However, his experience has been that the landscape architect’s appreciation and understanding of the landscape, combined with technical knowledge of visualisation, provides developers with a key capability to demonstrate and assess change in the landscape. Bill is particularly interested in landscape applications of 3D modelling, GIS and IT generally. He is currently serving on the Landscape Institute's Technical Committee. |