Telecommunications

We always knew there were telecommunication masts on the site. The existence of the access road and grid connection are what led us to the site. Every planning application has to make sure it doesn’t interfere with television and other communications. Here is some information from our report. More information can be found on our planning application.

Telecommunications

“The potential impact of the proposed development on mobile phone companies and their fixed microwave link network were provided by Ofcom. As discussed above, the JRC and Atkins were also contacted. The outcome of this stakeholder contact has been summarised in Table 33 below alongside responses.”

Company

links

Responded

Further issues

Airwave Solutions Ltd

2

Yes

No

British Telecom (BT)

12

Yes

No

Everything Everywhere Ltd

1

Yes

No

Mll Telecom

1

Yes

No

Table 33: Overview of responses from Telecommunication companies

Conclusion 

“Further assessment has shown that the turbine location is outwith the required clearance zone of any radio links that pass near the site.

Television reception

“With regard to domestic television reception the primary area of concern is that the presence and movement of the turbine causes shadow and/or reflection zones in the surrounding area. A worst case scenario is that analogue television reception systems within these zones may be partially or totally impaired through the reception being blocked or mirrored by the presence of the turbine. For this development the BBC wind farm tool stated that at the proposed site the development may have the following potential impacts:

  • “likely to affect 1 home for whom there is no alternative off-air service”
  • “may affect up to 18 homes for whom there may be an alternative off-air service”

It should be noted that this software tool does not take into account the size of the development (so does not differentiate between a single wind turbine development and a large commercial wind farm). It was also stated on the site that this tool is a rough estimate and that it acts as an aid to quantify the need for further work if high numbers of homes are likely to be impacted upon. The automated tool is a worst case scenario that does not take into account the size of development (scale and number of turbines), or the position of the turbine(s) within the measured 100 m2 grid area. Therefore the expected number of affected houses is expected to be far less than this initial figure.”

Conclusion

“While the BBC assessment tool has stated that there is the potential to affect some nearby properties, it should be noted that this assessment does not take into account the relatively small scale and single nature of the development. It is considered that any interference that may occur can be successfully mitigated against and stated within the planning conditions of the project.”

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