TNEI provided project management, planning and environmental services and support to Wilson Renewables III for an application for Section 36 consent for a 10-turbine onshore wind development named Bankend Rig III Wind Farm.
Bankend Rig III Wind Farm is located within an area of commercial forestry and open moorland approximately 4.75 km to the north of Muirkirk, South Lanarkshire and has a proposed total generating capacity of up to 66 MW (comprising 10 no. 6.6 MW wind turbines of up to 250 m to blade tip). The application was submitted under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 and due to the nature and scale of the development, an EIA was required to be submitted as part of the application.
TNEI’s appointment on BERIII Wind Farm followed on from previous work which TNEI undertook in delivering Bankend Rig Wind Farm (an 11-turbine onshore wind development of up 14.3 MW which was energised in 2013) and Bankend Rig II (a 3-turbine extension to Bankend Rig Wind Farm).
TNEI undertook the roles of consultant Project Manager, EIA Co-ordinator and Planning Lead for the Bankend Rig III Wind Farm project, fulfilled the role of technical specialist for various technical disciplines – including noise, shadow flicker and socio-economics (which involved undertaking surveys and assessments and, where necessary, authoring the relevant stand-alone technical chapters for inclusion in the EIA Report), and provided Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and mapping support for the application, including the production of supporting figures, plans and technical drawings.
TNEI provided strategic planning advice to the client and the project team throughout the duration of the project and supported Wilson Renewables III LLP in undertaking consultation with the local community and other relevant stakeholders.
TNEI also managed and organised meetings with various statutory consultees and key stakeholders including South Lanarkshire Council as the relevant Local Planning Authority and NatureScot, HES and Scottish Forestry. TNEI led the design meetings and facilitated the evolution of the scheme to balance conflicting constraints and considerations from all the different disciplines, including providing input into the development’s design to help ensure that it was acceptable in planning terms.
Prior to the submission of the application, TNEI prepared and submitted a Gatecheck Report to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit (ECU) in October 2023.
TNEI subsequently compiled the EIA (managing the team of sub-consultants (including interalia landscape architects, ecologists and ornithologists, acousticians, hydrologists) and authored various front and back-end chapters of the EIA Report (including the Description of the Proposed Development chapter, the Approach to Preparing the EIA chapter and the detailed Planning and Energy Policy Chapter). TNEI also authored the Planning Statement, the Design and Access Statement and the Pre-application Consultation Report which were submitted to support the application.
TNEI then compiled all of the application documents and submitted the application to the ECU in January 2024.
After the application was submitted, TNEI monitored the application through to the point of determination. TNEI monitored the application portal and tracked responses to the application submitted by statutory and non-statutory consultees and members of the public, as and when required. TNEI also liaised with both the ECU and South Lanarkshire Council in order to address consultee comments, where necessary (including from the likes of NatureScot and Scottish Forestry).
Once all consultee comments were suitably addressed, TNEI undertook a review of the conditions proposed by the ECU to be attached to any Section 36 consent granted for BERIII Wind Farm. TNEI subsequently proposed and negotiated changes to ensure the final conditions were appropriate and fit for purpose for the scheme.
Section 36 consent was granted by the ECU for BERIII Wind Farm on 21st November 2025.
