Calder Valley Labour MP Candidate, Cllr Josh Fenton-Glynn, mistakenly told Calderdale Climate Hustings (Mytholmroyd, 27.6.2024) that the aesthetics of the proposed Walshaw Moor windfarm were not a planning consideration and that only environmental issues would be taken into account, when Calderale Council makes a decision on the planning application.
The Landscape Institute says that
“Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) can be key to planning decisions by identifying the effects of new developments on views and on the landscape itself.”
Landscape Visual Impact Assessment forms a considerable part of the Environmental Statement that Calderdale Planning Authority’s Scoping Opinion requires the windfarm developers to submit as part of the Planning Application.
The Scoping Opinion’s main points about the Landscape Visual Impacts of the proposal are:
As a whole the proposal would have a likely significant impact in landscape and visual terms. It’s not just about the proposed turbines. Given that the site’s exposed and readily viewable by a range of users, a Landscape Visual Impact Assessment would need to consider all proposed on-site infrastructure – especially solar PV array[s] and Battery Energy Storage System – and topographical changes to the Walshaw Moor site (including borrow pits and internal road layouts).
The Landscape Visual Impact Assessment should include:
- Sequential views from local footpaths and other viewpoints, both in and out of Calderdale, such as Stoodley Pike, Top Withens, Bronte Parsonage Museum, and Haworth, and other areas as set out in the consultee responses to the developers’ Scoping Report, including the Yorkshire Three Peaks of Pen y Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside.
- Conservation Areas and trig points that “provide fine views across Calderdale’s natural and historic environment.”
- An assessment of whether the proposal’s visual impacts would have a significant impact on or harm the statutory purposes of the nearby Yorkshire Dales National Park: to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the park; and to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the park by the public.
- An assessment of whether the proposal’s visual impacts would have a significant Impact on or harm the statutory purpose of Forest of Bowland and Nidderdale Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (now known as National Landscapes): to conserve and enhance the area’s natural beauty.
- An assessment of the proposal’s visual impacts on the openness of the defined Area Around Todmorden, which is noted for its character and openness.
- Its impacts on the openness (both in terms of its visual and spatial impacts) of the Green Belt (which the site is part of).
You can download Calderdale Planning Authority’s Scoping Opinion here
Save And Restore Walshaw Moor 