3 AGENDA ITEM No .-...- ~~ -... 0.0.(..4.

Application No:

10/01338/FUL

Proposed Development:

Installation of Radar Tower (44.4m high) with Associated Control Building, Security Fence, Hardstanding and Formation of Internal Access Road Site Address:

Site At Drum Mains Park Orchardton Woods Cumbernauld G68 9LD

Date Registered:

1 st December 201 0

Applicant: SSE Renewables 16 Robertson Street Glasgow G2 8DS

Application Level : Local Application

Ward: 002 Cumbernauld North Balwant Singh Chadha, Barry McCulloch, Gordon Murray, Alan O'Brien,

Agent: Jones Lang LaSalle Exchange Crescent 7 Exchange Crescent Edinburgh EH2 8LL

Contrary to Development Plan: No

Representations: 0 letter(s) of representation received.

Recommendation: Approve Subject to Conditions

Reasoned Justification: The proposed development is considered to accord with the development plan as it meets the terms of the policies of the Cumbernauld Local Plan 1993. The radar installation is considered to be an acceptable ancillary development within the existing industrial estate that would have no unacceptable environmental impacts. The proposed radar tower would successfully mitigate previous air traffic safety concerns related to the development of the large scale Clyde Wind Farm which is capable of producing 350MW of renewable energy.

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Proposed Conditions:-

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That the development hereby permitted shall be started within three years of the date of this permission.

Reason: To accord with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 as amended by the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006.

That the development hereby permitted shall be carried out strictly in accordance with Site Plan 85690/RAD/01, Proposed Site Compound Plan 85690/RAD/02 and Radar Tower Elevation CRM 43346/2 and no change to those details shall be made without prior written approval of the Planning Authority.

Reason: To clarify the drawings on which this approval of permission is founded.

That notwithstanding the terms of condition 2, and before the development starts the developer shall provide a further site plan for the written approval of the Planning Authority which demonstrates the following requirements:

a) Clarification that the proposed access road shall be paved and tied to the existing delineation kerb of Drum Mains Park Road.

b) Details of drainage arrangements to prevent surface water running from the site access on to Drum Mains Park Road.

c) Details of the fuel storage area protection bunds

Reason: To enable the Planning Authority to consider these details in the interests of traffic safety and habitat protection.

That the developer shall ensure the following ecological habitat safeguarding measures are adopted during the construction period and operation of the development:

No soil materials are stored within the identified habitat study area for an extended period of time to prevent the creation of burrow habitat at the site;

Any pipes are secured to ensure that wild mammals cannot enter pipe stacks at night;

No drainagehervice pipes shall be left open ended in trenches and accessible to wild mammals;

Any trenches/excavations deeper than 0.5m shall be covered or provided with escape ramps to prevent entrapment of any animals;

All refuelling operations shall take place within a securely bunded area within the proposed works area, with appropriate fuel spill kit kept on site. No chemicals or fuels should be stored outside of the bund area;

SEPA guidelines shall be followed with regard to the prevention of water pollution during construction works;

The use of white light shall be avoided as far as practical on site within an hour of dusk and dawn to reduce the chances of disturbing foraging wild mammals or their prey. Lights should be hooded and face onto the site not the adjacent woodland or grassland areas.

On-site works shall be carried out during normal working hours were practicable, and preferably from at least 1 hour after dawn and stopping at least one hour before dusk.

That if site clearance operations are to commence between March and August (inclusive) the site area shall be inspected for nesting birds by a suitably qualified ecologist within 48 hours of works commencing. Should

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nesting sites be found, the identified nesting locations shall be protected from ongoing works by demarcation fencing until birds have completed nesting with the agreement of the ecologist.

Reason: To safeguard protected species and their respective habitats during the development's construction and operation period.

5. That the development hereby permitted shall not start until a Notice of Initiation has been submitted to the satisfaction of the Planning Authority.

Reason: To accord with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended by the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006).

6. That within 4 weeks of completion of all building works on site, of the development hereby permitted, a Notice of Completion shall be submitted to the Planning Authority.

Reason: To accord with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended by the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006).

Backaround Paoers:

Representation Letters

None received

Consultation Responses:

Scottish Natural Heritage received 2gth December 201 0 NLC Greenspace received 1 Ith January 201 1 Landscape received 1 8'h January 201 1 Traffic & Transportation (Northern Area) received 18'h January 201 1 BAA Aerodrome Safeguarding received 1 3'h December 201 0 National Air Traffic Services (Safeguarding) Mailbox 25, 400 received 8'h December 201 0 Environmental Health (including Pollution Control) received 10 January 201 1 Scottish Water received 1 5th December 2010

Contact Information:

Any person wishing to inspect these documents should contact Mr Colin Marshal1 at 01236 61 6459

Report Date:

2nd February 201 1

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APPLICATION NO. 10/01338/FUL

REPORT

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Site Description

Planning permission is being sought for the installation of a radar tower (44.4 m in height) with associated control building, security fence, hard standing and formation of access road.

The application site for the radar installation is located within the partially developed Drum Mains Park industrial area, which forms part of the larger Orchardton Woods estate situated on the western edge of Cumbernauld. This industrial estate is characterised by well established structure planting areas that subdivide the individual industrial plots located within the estate. The application site relates to one of the undeveloped plots and has a hard standing surface and access from the central roadway that serves the entire industrial estate. The plot is bounded on all sides by raised embankments and is generally screened by semi-mature trees and shrubs.

The closest building is an existing industrial unit that sits approximately 100m to the south west of the site and is separated by a dense planting belt, while in other directions neighbouring buildings are located further away. The residential areas of Blackwood and Westfield are located some 0.5km to the east and 1 km to the south east of the site respectively.

Proposed Development

The proposed development relates to the installation of a free standing metal framed radar tower, including a cap to enclose the antenna. Ancillary support equipment including new access road would also be provided. The main radar installation would be of a height of 39.4 m above ground level and would have an approximate footprint of 5m x 5m. A lightning conductor finial would be attached to the top of the radar, thereby extending the height to some 44.4m. The installation and control buildingkabin would be located within a fenced compound measuring 15m x 20m. A SUDS scheme is to be installed however no details of this design are available for detailed assessment.

The proposed radar installation at Orchardton Woods is needed to mitigate the potential adverse of the now consented Clyde Wind Farm (CWF) development (152 Turbines 350MW) on NATS En Route Plc (NERL) Primary Surveillance Radar at Lowther Hill. The previously planned mitigation for this wind farm was to utilise the existing radar at Glasgow Airport, however whilst theoretical modelling suggested this would be acceptable to NATS, actual flight trials proved the low level coverage of this radar solution to be insufficient. The wind farm developer, (SSE Renewables) needed to provide a suitable location to construct and operate a radar and following a site search, the area around Cumbernauld was considered favourable due to the terrain characteristics which offer a low enough site to prevent the proposed radar picking up signals from the Clyde Wind Farm but offer enough low level radar coverage to give NERL the required coverage to safely manage controlled airspace over the SSE turbine site. This solution has been agreed with NERL as being appropriate to address the required mitigation to allow the Clyde Wind farm development to proceed.

In addition to providing the mitigation for CWF, the developer has advised that the proposed installation at Orchardton has the potential to provide a mitigation solution to address outstanding radar constraints on a number of other wind farm sites. However detailed modelling would require to be undertaken to clearly identify which other sites could benefit from such mitigation with the agreement and consultation with air traffic safeguarding agencies.

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Applicant’s Supportina Information

The applicant has provided a supporting planning statement, detailed plans and elevation details, landscape appraisal, bat and ecological survey in support of the planning application.

Site Historv

The industrial estate has been subject to previous development including the construction of 4 large scale industrial units that occupy the plots at western half of this large estate. The east section is undeveloped but has a service road which extends further into the estate off which there are pre-development industrial platforms available for further development.

DeveloPment Plan

The site falls within the Cumbernauld Local Plan 1993 and is covered by policies IB 2, 4 and 7 (Marketable, Reserved and Proposed industrial/business areas).

Consultations

There was no objection from NATS or BAA.

There was no objection from Scottish Water.

There was no objection from SNH or Greenspace Services following revisions to the Ecological Survey Report and the Bat Survey reports who recommended the developer complies with additional mitigation and best practice guidance provided by Greenspace Services.

There was no objection from Landscape Services as it was considered that the proposals are unlikely to exert a significant influence on the surrounding rolling farmland landscape character type. In addition its visual impact is also unlikely to exert visual influence over designated protection areas such as the Regional Scenic Area (Kilsyth Hills), Antonine Wall, Green Belt, Open Countryside or on Conservation Areas/Listed Buildings. Significant visual impacts are most likely to occur close to the residential areas of Blackwood and Westfield, which lie some 500m to Ikm to the east and south east of the site respectively and from core path routes which pass through the industrial estate. From some views the radar tower would be most prominent when seen against the sky, where it extends above the established tree line. However from most views it is generally back-clothed by the Kilsyth Hills and existing trees and woodland. Other viewpoints are currently broken up by surrounding developments including existing industrial units and power line infrastructure. The significance of the visual impacts is considered to be Major to Moderate dependant on the where the tower would be viewed from.

Transportation had no objections subject to conditions requiring adequate service vehicle parking and turning area, drainage facilities and appropriate link to the main estate service road.

Protective Services had no objection subject to the developer complying with environmental legislation.

Representations

No letters of representation were received.

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8. Plannina Assessment

8.1 Section 25 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 requires that the application be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. In this instance, the development is not of strategic significance and therefore the Structure Plan is not relevant in the assessment of this planning application.

8.2 DeveloDment Plan: The Cumbernauld Local Plan 7993: Policies IB 2, 4 and 7 set out to protect strategically important industrial and business areas from inappropriate uses and encourages high standards of building design and landscaping particularly within the remaining undeveloped part of the estate. The proposed radar tower relates to a supporting infrastructure required to allow a remotely located wind farm to be developed. As such it is considered to be an ancillary industrial development in terms of its nature and design. The site relates to one of the remaining undeveloped industrial plot which has previously been subject to structure planting which now provides effective screening around the plot. The proposed tower would extend above the existing tree line, however its visual impact, whilst modest to major depending on the view point is not unacceptable and would not be detrimental to the prestigious status of the existing industrial estate. The proposals would not compromise or constrain the further development of this estate for future industrial or business purposes and as such the proposals are considered to be in accordance with the terms of the relevant policies of the development plan.

8.3 Other Material Considerations- Finalised Draft North Lanarkshire Local Plan: EDI 2A (Promoting Economic Development and Infrastructure) seeks to ensure continued support for industrial and business land development by maintaining a 10 year land supply of quality marketable industrial land (including a 5 year supply of readily available sites) and promoting the development of the land supply sites listed in Schedule EDI 2 A of the Area Action Plans/Proposals Maps. It is considered the proposals are consistent with the development aims of this policy and would not significantly reduce the 10 year industrial land supply. The site also falls within an areas covered by policy EDI A2 where the Council, (whilst supporting the continued industrial and business character of such areas) may also consider where appropriate, alternative development potential (ADP) studies for such areas. The remaining undeveloped part of the Orchardton Woods area is extensive and it is considered that the radar tower proposals would not compromise the ADP policy aims should this be subject to further study.

8.4 The proposals also require to be assessed under the terms of Development Strategy Policies (DSP 1-4).

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DSP1 (Amount of Development). As noted above the scale of the proposed development should not have any significant impact on industrial land supply. DSP2 (Location of Development). The proposals are consistent with the Plan’s location criteria in terms of land supply. It is also consistent with relevant criteria noted under DSP2B where the proposals would involve the continued development of an established industrial estate utilising existing infrastructure and services, avoids key green belt areas and given the supporting conclusion in the submitted ecological study would have no impact on environmental assets. The site is also reasonably accessible and is not within an area liable to flooding or subject to hazardous development zones. DSP 3 (Impact of Development). It is considered that the proposals are unlikely to have significant impacts on the economic, social, or environmental infrastructure of the community. As noted above the main impact from the proposals will be in terms of its visual impact when viewed from certain areas including some residential areas located !A mile from the site. However whilst these impacts are considered to be of moderate to major significance (where

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the tower is occasionally viewed against open sky), it is not unacceptable enough to warrant any refusal of planning permission. DSP 4 (Quality of the Development). The proposals relate to an ancillary industrial infrastructure and comprises of a metal framed tower with antenna screened by a sphere shaped cover and would be located within an established industrial estate that already benefits from high amenity standards including well established screen planting designed to minimise visual and other impacts. The planning application is accompanied by supporting information that demonstrates that appropriate appraisals on the existing character and features of the site including landscape, biodiversity, heritage and amenity impacts and these have demonstrated that there would be no impact on archaeological, historical, landscape or wildlife receptors as demonstrated in the supporting information. The proposals are therefore considered to meet the appropriate relevant criteria laid out under DSP 4.

8.5 Consultations- There were no objections from NATS, BAA, Scottish Water, Transportation, Landscape or Protective Services Sections.

8.6 SNH and Greenspace Services had no objection provided their recommended mitigation measures are adopted by the developer during the construction and operation of the development. These ecological safeguarding measures can be covered by planning condition.

8.7 Represenfations- There were no representations.

9. Conclusions

9.1 The proposals accord with the terms of the development plan and there are no material considerations that would suggest the proposals are not acceptable. There were no outstanding objections from any of the consultees that cannot be covered by planning conditions and there were no representations Following an assessment of the submitted information it can be concluded that although the radar tower may be seen from certain areas, its visual impact is not unacceptable and on balance there would be no overall detrimental impact on amenity of the site or surrounding area. As noted the proposed radar installation is required to allow a large wind farm development to proceed. The proposals are therefore considered acceptable and it is recommended that planning permission be granted subject to conditions.

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