wind farms and the Landscape
Mike Downing takes a view
The issue of wind farms is one that dominates planning in Northumberland at the present time, or so it would seem. Arguments have tended to develop based on opinions about the appropriate means of obtaining energy, their morality, efficiency and potential for causing damage to the environment, as well as their effects on the neighbouring inhabitants. The answers to most of these questions are quite simply reached, and it would be rational to attempt to arrive at a state where it could be agreed as to which methods could be used in what situations
In the case of wind turbines the choice of site becomes the major question. There remain, it must be admitted, some answers to be established about the effect of wind turbines on wild birds, particularly birds of prey which, it is claimed, are liable to be injured or killed by them. Questions which, it seems, elicit a less than candid response relate to the engineering aspects of the systems, excavations, foundations, ancillary works and restoration. Wind Turbines are not of themselves unpleasing structures. It would not be unreasonable to describe them as beautiful. Indeed for the landowner housing them they would attain a supreme and irresistible beauty, if the rumoured annual bounty of £8000 per unit is to be believed!
Something which might lead us to a more sensible approach to this question is the Council of Europe's Convention on Landscape. This was an initiative of the local and regional authority representatives in the Council, and was intended to emphasise the great value to society of the landscape in which we live. It refers to not only fine, picturesque, cultural, historical, recreational landscapes, but to all landscapes with which humans have any involvement, and particularly those areas which many people experience every day, the urban and the degraded. The Convention promotes 'landscape planning', which it defines as "strong forward looking action to enhance, restore or create landscapes". What this has led to in a number of countries is an approach to the prior assessment of landscape which will provide a positive means of arriving at a decision as to the suitability of sites and areas when proposals for change are put forward.
The Convention came into force in October 2000, but it was only at the end of 2006 that the U.K. agreed to ratify it, this to take effect in March 2007. Its objectives involve a more pro-active approach than the traditional British planning method, and this has the potential, at least in the future, of dissuading developers from spending time and effort on the most unlikely proposals. Its importance, though, is the recognition it gives to the landscape in which we, whether rural or urban dwellers, live on a daily basis. The siting of wind farms could be guided by this landscape assessment process and this might obviate some of the posturing and commercial dishonesty by omission, insinuation, and hyperbole that disfigure our planning processes.
The value of landscape is essentially measured visually, though social, historical and cultural issues contribute and colour this evaluation. In the case of wind farms, scale is the critical factor and this of course is true of other large features. They are immense elements in the landscape and require a setting which matches them in terms of scale. This applies to the topography of the area under consideration and also to the scale of the detailed landscape, the field patterns, the sizes and materials of structures, walls and other elements in the landscape into which they are to be set. Small-scale complex landscapes with fine detail are overpowered by large elements and even only one such feature can be an unacceptable intrusion. On the other hand it is recognisably the case that large-scale open landscapes, usually with little topographic variation, can accommodate such features happily. The presence of the wind farms in the polder landscapes of the Netherlands, themselves man-made, is generally regarded as completely acceptable, indeed a positive addition to the landscape. The same can be said of those that stand in the extensive plains south and east of Vienna. Where these features can be sited on the coast or in coastal waters and this provides a background of sufficient scale this is also acceptable. There are areas of East Anglia (bearing in mind Noel Coward’s dismissive "very flat - Norfolk") which seem to have considerable potential for this kind of development particularly when and where modern farming methods have increased the field scales very dramatically.
The topography of North Northumberland is quite varied and includes some sites which might be acceptable. The writer has not reviewed them all; however the Barmoor site, with which he is familiar, does include not only a range of small scale elements which make it extremely unlikely that the turbines proposed could be accommodated without causing visual damage and seriously diminishing the value of the landscape we see there. Perhaps more seriously it would overshadow a nature reserve that is a site of national importance
It is important that we take on board the now accepted Council of Europe Convention and ensure that we, no less than other forward looking countries, recognise that "Landscape is an important part of the quality of life for people everywhere, in urban areas, in the countryside, in degraded areas as well as in areas of high quality, in areas recognised as being of outstanding beauty as well as everyday areas."
CITY AND COUNTY
February 2007
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