October 2015: Freasdail Wind Farm Construction Commences

During construction, the permitted hours of operation on the site are limited to 7am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday. No work will take place on outwith these times or on public holidays unless agreed by Argyll and Bute Council or it is required in urgent circumstances.

Work started with the creation of a site entrance and tracks and drainage measures within the site. The site will be accessed directly from the A83 with the entrance located approximately 1.2km south of Whitehouse.

To create the site tracks, additional stone will need to be brought on to site. This will require up to 250 vehicle movements per week at peak periods of work - so approximately 125 vehicles entering and exiting the site each week (between 20 and 25 vehicles arriving at the site each day). There will also be vehicle movements with staff entering and exiting the site and other smaller scale deliveries.

RES has developed a detailed traffic management plan, taking into consideration the current use and the capacity of the A83, and will avoid movements during sensitive periods (such as at the start and end of the school day).

Only completed, the new site entrance will be used for all deliveries to site and staff movements and, once in use, signage will be put in place to advise motorists of slow moving vehicles and heavy goods vehicles turning. There will also be signage in place for the heavy goods vehicle drivers, reminding them to be cautious and take their time – this will help to reduce noise and protect the road surface.

In addition to the works on access and tracks, RES will be putting drainage measures in place within the wind farm site. To ensure that this does not have an impact on the existing watercourses, RES has conducted a baseline study of the water quality on site using an approach agreed with SEPA. This will be monitored throughout construction to ensure that there are no signifi cant changes. If a change is identified, RES will investigate and take appropriate action to sustain the pre-construction water quality baseline.

The work on access tracks and drainage is expected to take up until February 2016.