The Shetland Islands are renowned for their remote wildness and scenic quality. The islands are valued as a natural, historical and cultural resource, and it is therefore of key importance that wind farms are developed in harmony with the surrounding landscape and the needs of other users.
Bearing this in mind, Shetland Islands Council tasked LUC with a review of the landscape sensitivities and an assessment of landscape capacity for commercial scale wind farm development. Given the pressures for wind farm development on the Shetland Islands, the study was intended to provide transparent and robust background information that can provide a base for assessing wind farm development applications and which provides guidance on landscape and visual matters for developers.
LUC's study provides a transparent assessment of landscape sensitivities related to the various landscape character areas within the Shetland Islands. The work is based on the identification of visual compartments within the landscape, and the sensitivity of the various landscape character areas which make up these units. This enabled indicative landscape capacities for wind farm development to be proposed in the areas which are considered most appropriate for wind farm development. Guidance relevant to landscape and visual matters is provided for these areas, such that it can be applied to wind farm proposals of differing size and scale as they come forward through the planning process.
Projects such as this are a natural fit for LUC, as they enable us to be proactive in helping shape the landscape for future generations, and to help guide development towards appropriate places, keeping the most special landscapes intact.
Download the study here:http://www.shetland.gov.uk/developmentplans/documents/ShetlandIslandsCouncilLandscapeSensitivityStudyFinalReport.pdf
