West Coast Energy - Cushnie Wind Energy

Planning & Environment Impact Assessment Process

A comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment of the potential impacts of the development has been undertaken. The results are presnted  in an Environmental Statement which was submitted to Aberdeenshire Council with the Planning Application.

Planning Policy

The Cushnie wind farm proposal has been developed within Aberdeenshire’s development plan framework to ensure compliance with planning policy. The relevant policies are contained in the following documents:
  • North East Scotland Together structure plan
  • Aberdeenshire Local Plan
  • Use of Wind Energy in Aberdeenshire, parts 1 and 2
The planning documents set out a sequential tiered approach against which to assess all wind farm applications. Tier 1 is the most sensitive and includes international nature designations. Tier 2 remains very sensitive and includes national scenic and ecological designations, green belt and sand dunes. Tier 3 includes Areas of Landscape Significance, archaeological sites, wildlife reserves, settlements and buffers around settlements. Tier 4 is the least sensitive and comprises areas not covered by Tiers 1 to 3. Cushnie Wind Farm being regarded as within Tier 4 accords with adopted Planning policies.

Site Location

The proposed Cushnie wind farm is located approximately 5 kilometres north of Tarland in the Marr area of Aberdeenshire.  The area of land within the planning application boundary is owned by the Forestry Commission.

Environmental Impact Assessment

The project is  subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process which assesses any impacts (positive or negative) that the development may have on the natural and built environment. 

Atmos Consulting has been appointed to oversee the EIA process and manage the planning application. Atmos Consulting Ltd is a renewable energy consultancy specialising in wind farm developments and has taken over 440MW of installed capacity in the UK (around 180MW in Scotland) successfully to planning permission.

Details of the surveys undertaken and the results of the surveys were presented in the Environmental Statement (ES) which was submitted with the planning application. Where necessary, mitigation measures were proposed.

The issues to be assessed in the ES are:
  • Visual and landscape
  • Noise
  • Ecology and birds
  • Archaeology and cultural heritage
  • Hydrology
  • Traffic
  • Socio-economics
  • Tourism and recreation
  • Telecommunications
  • Aircraft safety and radar


The consultation responses by Aberdeenshire Council and other consultees including SNH, the Cairngorm National Park and Historic Scotland were taken into account in the preparation of the SEI volume.

Current design


The initial design was for a much larger 21 turbine development. The current design is the result of an iterative site design process whereby the known constraints and the results of the environmental assessments are fed into the design process in order to achieve a layout which minimises the impact of the development; a process termed ‘embedded mitigation’.

  • Particular care has been spent minimising the visual impact whilst maximising energy generation. 

Landscape and visual

The impact of the wind farm on the landscape and general character of the local area together with visual impacts from key viewpoints will be important considerations for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

A list of viewpoints was been identified in consultation with Aberdeenshire Council, the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Scottish Natural Heritage. The view of the wind farm from these viewpoints was presented in the ES and the affects on these views assessed. Cumulative visual assessments with other wind farms in Aberdeenshire was also considered.

For the exhibitions,  6 photomontages were prepared. Photomontages are photographs superimposed with images of the proposed wind farm. These are realistic impressions of how the wind farm will look.  Visualisations from around 20 locations agreed with Aberdeenshire Council, SNH and the Cairngorms National Park Authority and are presented in the Environmental Statement.
Click to enlarge