Visual impact
Sensitive receptors
Policy D4 of the Local Plan states that wind farms should be assessed against certain criteria: “Views of turbines and associated transmission lines, tracks, plant and buildings from sensitive receptors that include residential properties, important landscape features, prominent landmarks, major tourist routes and popular public viewpoints, including those outwith the Scottish Borders Boundary.” The proposed Drone Hill Wind Farm would have a detrimental effect on each of these “sensitive receptors”.
SNH states impacts on views from the Berwickshire coastline will be affected as “This highly scenic coastline has a sense of seclusion and drama and a visitors experience may be affected by moving blades” (SNH Drone Hill planning response to SBC 26/05/05 paragraph 7). The revised application has only reduced the visibility of the development from the A1 and East Coast Mainline from a small wedge to the south east, but it is still highly visible from the north including the East Lothian corridor and settlements, where the viewer will see the wind farm along the prominent skyline of the East Berwickshire coastline. This Contravenes Policy N9: which states that its aim is to “maintain the integrity of the landscape character and enhance its quality”, as the development will ruin the integrity of the open unobstructed character of the coastal landscape.
The visual impact on important landscape viewpoints as identified by SNH has “not been significantly reduced by the revised application”, which is acknowledged by PMR (Drone Hill Revised Non Technical Summary – Landscape and Visual Assessment).
Residential properties
Fourteen properties or groups of properties within 2.5km of the proposed wind farm will have a view of all 22 towers and blades – a dominant impact according to SBC criteria, while a total of 64 properties or groups of properties within 5km of the site will be able to see the wind farm, classed as a major impact. 
The development also contravenes Policy H2- protection of residential amenity. There are 56 properties (or groups of) located within 5km of the windfarm which will be adversely affected. The open aspect of the moor will be lost, and the scale and type of the development will have a dominant Impact and be visually intrusive without any available mitigation measures to the community living on the moor and surrounding areas.
The site should also be disallowed under Scottish Planning Policy 6 (SPP6), which supports a separation distance greater than 2 km between turbines and settlements. The Coldingham Moor community is within 2km of the development, with Springhill Farm being 885m from the nearest turbine and The Myrtle – 1km.
Driver Distraction
‘Visual impact will include cumulative impact, shadow flicker and the potential for driver distraction and take account the distance of the facility from receptors and screening.’ (SBC Local Plan Policy D4)
The wind farm will be clearly visible from the A1107 and intermittently visible from the A1. It will also be visible from other roads in the region. The compactness of the site and the small scale characteristics of the moor mean there is nothing the developers do to mitigate distraction for these road users. Driver distraction would be inevitable, both to drivers passing through the middle of 22 wind turbines on the A1107, and to drivers on the busy A1, a road with an already high level of accidents.
The report does not address the issue of shadow flicker on users of the A1107.