An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was undertaken for a proposal to construct and operate a wind farm near the village of Haswell Plough in County Durham. The proposed wind farm includes five wind turbines as well as an associated substation, meteorological mast, cabling and access tracks. The total maximum installed capacity will be up to 15 megawatts.

Impacts that were assessed as part of the EIA included:

Noise Flora and fauna Soils and the water environment Landscape and visual Shadow flicker

Communications interference Cultural heritage & recreation Traffic and transport Socio-economics

Environmental issues were thoroughly assessed using established methods. In each assessment the latest guidelines, standards and legislation were considered to ensure that the assessments were dependable and transparent. A range of stakeholders were actively engaged throughout the assessment. A public exhibition was held in order to involve local people and inform them about the development.

The findings of the EIA were presented in an Environmental Statement, which included proposed mitigation for any adverse impacts and opportunities for environmental enhancements.
Halcrow also provided design advice, produced a transport assessment of access routes to the site, and was responsible for the production of a Planning Statement in support of the proposed wind farm.
The project team drew upon a variety of skills across Halcrow, including engineering design, transport assessment and town and country planning. As such, Halcrow provided the full range of services that comprised the planning application package that was submitted in November 2006.