North Pickenham Wind Farm: Supporting the Growth of Renewable Energy

Expansive landscapes of East Anglia are well suited to accommodating wind farm developments.

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Renewable energy has risen up the political agenda, with demanding targets set at international, national and local levels. Meeting the UK requirements and promoting on and off shore schemes through the planning system gives rise to a number of challenges. LDA Design is involved with a significant proportion of the renewable sector's work, as in the case of this wind farm for Enertrag UK Ltd.

Enertrag proposed eight 120m blade tip turbines for a wind farm at a disused airfield in North Pickenham. The site is close to the Swaffham Ecotech Centre where a 100m blade tip turbine with a viewing platform was erected in 1999, followed by a second turbine in 2003. The site is located four miles south east of Swaffham, on the edge of a locally designated landscape of predominantly arable land, with some woodland areas; it was selected as appropriate due to its previous use as an airfield. In addition to the existing turbines, key issues included the effect on landscape character and the visibility of the turbines given the topography of this part of East Anglia.

The potential cumulative effects with the Swaffham turbines and the potential impact on views were the main concerns of residents and the local planning authority. It was essential that these points were addressed by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) prepared to support the submission.

We were appointed by Enertrag to consider these landscape and visual issues and produce all the graphics and visualisations to inform the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) for the Environmental Statement (ES). We also designed and delivered the large scale photomontages for the public consultation sessions held with local residents.

The results, findings and feedback from these activities were incorporated into the planning submission, which was supported by the officers and assisted Breckland Council to reach its positive decision.

North Pickenham was consented in late 2004 and has been operational since 2006, providing 14.4 megawatt capacity or 8,052 homes equivalent of renewable energy.