Proposed Wind Turbine at Killingholme Farm, North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire
Welcome
Welcome to the consultation website for the farm-scale wind turbine proposed to take place at Killingholme Poultry Farm located within the Killingholme Industrial Estate. On this website, you will learn more about our plans to create one of the UK’s first Net Zero farms and the benefits this will bring to both the local community and the environment.
We really do want to receive your feedback and comments on our plans for the next part of this journey for the Site which is to further reduce reliance on fossil fuels and national energy resources.
Please review the proposed project map using the button below and complete the questionnaire on the feedback tab no later than 31st July 2023 so we can take on board your comments in the next stage of design.
Click the button below to take a look at the project site and the proposed location for the Wind Turbine at Killingholme Farm, North Killingholme, North. Lincolnshire
Who Are We?
We are Amber Real Estate Investments Ltd, the property arm of the group of companies including 2 Sisters Food Group who the birds are produced for. Through the group companies, we employ approximately 2,500 people in the North Lincolnshire area, including the food factory at Scunthorpe, this farm and others in the region.
As a specialist international infrastructure investment manager, we consider the full spectrum of issues that have the potential to influence the performance of our investments, both now, and in the future.
In line with the government's measures to decarbonise agricultural emissions set out in the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, we are invested in delivering one of the UK’s first Net Zero farms, incorporating energy-efficient technologies in order to combat the rising cost of food production, supporting the national ambition to create a Net Zero emission economy by 2050.
'Net Zero' means achieving a balance between the amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) emissions produced and those removed from the atmosphere in order to reduce global warming. Whilst we don't have the facility to remove GHGs, we are in a position to create a more sustainably secure farming operation.
The Process
The process we are currently going through can be broken down into two stages:
- Stage 1: Initial Public Consultation, in this part of the process we are seeking your views on our plans for a sustainable net zero farm. This is truly in advance of finalising the exact location of the turbine, landscaping and environmental improvements required and that’s why we are genuinely seeking your views now. Depending on the feedback received, we may carry out further pre-application consultation with you, the community, to review how we have incorporated your comments into the designs.
- Stage 2: The Planning Application, once we have reviewed and taken on board all feedback, we will prepare all the necessary detailed environmental reports, final designs and documentation and submit a full planning application to North Lincolnshire Council for the wind turbine at the Site, where you will then be consulted again formally by the Council in accordance with their requirements.
The Proposal
One of the most significant contributors is energy in the form of electricity. The needs of farms like those at Killingholme have substantially higher heating, cooling and lighting demands than general businesses due to the needs of the site from an animal welfare perspective which is non-negotiable as a responsible food producer. Advancements in technology are the only way to reduce the cost of electricity. This is why investment is already committed for the farm to have solar panels, heat exchangers and battery storage. But in getting closer still to becoming fully net zero, the farm needs an additional source of renewable energy, particularly given the sun dependant performance of solar panels.
Therefore, we are proposing to construct a single, farm-scale turbine at the site which would be entirely related to delivering the energy required on the farm. The final design would follow after this consultation and a detailed design stage. However, the typical parameters we are expecting to deliver the energy requirements are:
- 79-metre-high (base to blade tip) wind turbine
- 51-metre hub height (the top of the main non-moving structure),
- 56-metre Rotor diameter (the total size of the three blades connected centrally to the hub)
Benefits
The farm has already taken measures to combat this energy volatility by including solar panels on the roof structure of the farm units, heat exchangers and battery storage. However, as solar power is not a year round solution in the UK, even with solar panels on a substantial amount of the roofs, this only equates to c. 30% of the farms energy usage even on days in the summer with little cloud cover. This leaves circa 70% of energy required from the electrical grid. Therefore we are intending to provide this energy from wind and become a more efficient farm, reducing demand on the electricity network.
The more businesses (and residential properties) that can reduce their reliance on the national grid, particularly high energy users, the less demand there will be on the grid to provide energy to those people and businesses who cannot afford or have the ability to create a decentralised energy source. For this to happen support is required for all types of renewable energy supplies.
As mentioned above, the importance of maintaining the welfare of birds continuously, regardless of blackouts, electricity grid pressures and energy market fluctuations is critical and cannot be underestimated. However, due to fluctuating energy prices, there is a real impact on the capability of farms to produce food in a safe manor at an affordable level. It is therefore important that each farm maximises the potential for on-Site renewable energy generation to help offset the wider market fluctuations and keep food production going.
The UK food industry supports circa. 400,000 food manufacturing jobs yet, 48% of total food in the UK is imported and this continues to rise according to Global Food Security. This trend is in part related to the lower cost of production outside the UK. Whilst recent cost impacts have been felt across Europe, there is on average, higher solar efficiency, resulting in less need to diversify away from solar. Where they do require alternative power sources, wind turbine infrastructure is used to compensate and supplement solar power.
Considerations
During the development of our proposals, we will consider the Site, the local area and the environment. You can find more information on each of these aspects below:
The Site is accessed through internal roads of the former RAF base via Lancaster Approach located off E Halton Road to the north east of the Site. There are no proposed changes to operational traffic as a result of the installation of a wind turbine. Given the nature of the proposed development comprising large components, care and attention to detail will be afforded during construction and an appropriate strategy for construction/delivery vehicles will be prepared.
The Site is located within Flood Zone 1 and at Low risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. There are isolated pockets of low to high risk of flooding from surface water across the Site. Due to the size of the wider Site being over 1 Ha, a Flood Risk Assessment and Drainage Strategy will be required to ensure no detriment to flood risk elsewhere.
The Site is located off Lancaster Approach within the wider commercial operations of the former RAF base to the west of Killingholme Industrial Estate. The Site is largely surrounded by agricultural fields along with other farms located further away. Upon submission of a planning application, an appropriate noise assessment of a single wind turbine will be carried out to consider impacts on receptor amenity from both the construction and operational phases of development.
The Site is located within North Lincolnshire Council, which is a local authority with a Defra UK Air Quality Management Area (AQMA), but the Site itself is not located within a specific AQMA boundary. The wider Site will remain in continued use and therefore the installation of a single wind turbine is unlikely to pose a significant risk to air quality however, the construction phase processes and related transport will be assessed accordingly.
Referring to geological mapping, the Site is underlain by superficial deposits of Devensian Till with bedrock of the Burnham Chalk Formation. The Site is not located within an area of coal mining risk nor is the Site located within 500m of a historical landfill. Additionally, whilst the Site was the location of the former RAF North Killingholme base, according to Zetica UXO risk mapping, the Site is at low risk of encountering UXO. Given the nature of the proposed development, a small site investigation would likely be undertaken to inform the geo-environmental and geotechnical aspects of the development e.g. for foundation design.
A review of Historic England’s online database, shows that there are no known designated heritage assets located within the boundary of the Site itself or within a 1 km buffer of the Site boundary. The installation of a single wind turbine is not considered likely to give rise to potentially significant construction or operational phase impacts associated with built heritage or archaeology. However, to understand the potential of the Site, a Desk Based Heritage Assessment will be carried out prior to submission of an application along with any further assessments deemed necessary from that desktop exercise.
The Site is located within the National Character Area (NCA) profile 42 – Lincolnshire Coast and Marshes adjacent to the nearby NCA profile 41 – Humber Estuary. Whilst the wider area of the Lincolnshire Coast and Marshes NCA is comprised of a wide coastal plan, the immediate surrounding area of the Site is largely industrial with a backdrop of the Killingholme Industrial Estate, the oil refineries of the Humber and Immingham ports. NCA profile 41 highlights the contrast of the landscape in this area, much of it is open and expansive but is in stark contrast to the industrial complexes and busy trading route of the estuary. From the receptors located on Carr Lane, the proposed wind turbine would likely be seen in an industrial context given the height of the oil refinery towers. However, a suitable assessment of landscape and visual impacts would be undertaken as part of any future planning application.
As mentioned above, the surrounding area east of the Site is largely industrial and commercial (Killingholme Industrial Estate) with land to the west predominantly in agricultural use. The area of land suitable to support the proposed development comprises existing hardstanding and would have a likely footprint of less than 50m2.
Natural England will be consulted on a planning application for the wind turbine due to the sites of ecological interest in the surrounding area. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) website states that the impacts of both onshore and offshore windfarms can be minimised through strategic planning which sites renewable energy in the least sensitive areas and assesses ecological impacts at the very start of the process.
Please leave your feedback on the feedback tab of this website, it is really important that we get comments from people within the community so we can seek to address them in the design stage.