Draughton, the very name implies gusts of unwelcome wind. It lies between Skipton and Ilkley and not far away is the honeypot Bolton Abbey Estate, the 30,000 acre Yorkshire domain of the Dukes of Devonshire.

A plan to install wind turbines near Draughton has united the community with adjacent Embsay-with-Eastby and bespoke Beamsley.

At Chelker Reservoir, near Draughton, the Yorkshire Water Authority wants to replace four worn-out wind turbines with two new ones which are three times higher. The land is part of Bolton Abbey Estate, which if it wanted to, could refuse permission. It has decided to let the planning application go ahead.

Chelker was built in 1858 to supply water to the Bradford area and needs topping up with water from the Wharfedale fells. For Yorkshire Water it makes commendable sense, using wind to make energy to pump surplus water uphill from the River Wharfe to supply Chelker, and then send it to its customers. Its annual electricity bill of £42m is the second largest consumer in the region. By 2010 it has a target of getting 10 per cent of its power from renewable sources, such as wind and water.

If only the new turbines were not so big. At 410ft (125m) tall they are more than three times the 1991 originals, 100ft higher than the new turbines on the A59 at Nab Ridge, near Harrogate and 108ft shy of Blackpool tower.

Keep Blackpool tower in mind. Now near its top place a three-blade turbine rotor with a span of 295 feet. That is the length of a jumbo jet – and is the span of the proposed rotors at Chelker.

Naturally, the very adjacent families at East Bewick hamlet are in uproar, alleging health worries such as tinnitus, headaches, depression, stress, excessive noise and throbbing from the blades, plus light and shadow flicker as they spin, plus domestic disruption and an impact on property values.

This week they got a temporary breather when Craven District Council told Yorkshire Water that one of the turbine blades overlapped the domestic boundary of Danny and Vanessa Leigh, and that because of this "encroachment" Yorkshire Water should have served notice on the adjacent landowner, which they hadn't done. The plans are being revised and Yorkshire Water says it hopes to resubmit them in the next four weeks after moving one of the turbines.

Mark Moore, Craven District Council's principal planning officer said: "The previous consultation comments will still stand and be taken into account when the application is heard, but all interested parties will get a further opportunity to comment on the revised plans."

Once a planning process starts, the council's target time for a decision is 16 weeks. That makes it unlikely before early next year.

Yorkshire Water's reasons make commercial sense. It reckons that with their higher energy output, the two big turbines will create the majority (80 per cent) of the electricity needed, reducing the need to buy power. The obsolete four turbines made 15 per cent of the power needed to pump water.

Richard Sears, corporate affairs manager, knows that the plan has "polarised" opinion but says that creating its own electricity will enable it to keep water bills "as low as possible". Any surplus electricity will be sold into the national grid. Without its own wind energy, says Yorkshire Water, its annual electricity bill at Chelker would be "over £1.4m". Wind allowing, the turbines will run non-stop, with twice yearly service intervals.

"The turbines comply with the Government's noise standards and will be fitted with shadow flicker control systems that will stop the turbines operating at times when the sun is low in the sky and the wind is blowing in a direction that could cause a flicker effect", it says in a statement, adding they meet structural safety laws. The opponents claim it's a likely annual subsidy of £1m for Yorkshire Water if they use green energy which is driving the company onwards.

Leading the case against the new turbines is PACT, short for Parishioners Against Chelker Turbines. One of the people closely involved is Peter Rigby, a retired European president of a metals company.

His home on a hill near Bolton Abbey will not be affected much by the turbines but he says he is more interested in the impact on the wider area.

An ally is Patrick Lang, a retired engineer living in Draughton. He will not see the turbines from home but many in Draughton will. With their professional experience, Messrs Rigby and Lang have assembled their case and targeted the decision makers.

Peter Rigby says: "It feels like David and Goliath, up against Yorkshire Water." One of PACT's planks is that the turbines will loom large on the skyline when seen from Bolton Abbey, making it less attractive to tourists. Based on surveys elsewhere, they argue it could cut visitors by 35,000
a year.

The area has long been popular with artists and poets. Wordsworth and Landseer loved the idyllic Wharfedale valley. PACT's protest leaflet has a colour cover of the historic ruins of the priory at Bolton Abbey, a painting by JMW Turner, on which it has added two turbines to the horizon and the legend: "Coming soon to a view near you".

Patrick Lang says: "I don't know of any other proposal where families will be living so close, within 300 metres. France works on a minimum of 1.5 km."

Up at the turbine site at East Berwick, the Leigh and Whitaker families are aghast. Catherine and Stephen Leigh moved there 21 years ago and made no objection to the installation of the present turbines. "We had absolutely no idea at all about wind turbines – that was the general mood", says Catherine. "We can hear the mechanical noise, but we have tolerated them. But we are not prepared to tolerate something three times the height and eight times their power". Mrs Leigh also fears that a detached turbine blade could hit the hamlet.

The views from East Berwick are otherwise terrific. On one side, the high hill carrying the Roman road from Ilkley towards Skipton, and on the other flank, the heathery shoulders of Wharfedale.

Nearer the turbines are the Leighs' son Danny and his wife Vanessa. They have lived here for 14 years and their three children were born here. Vanessa says: "I am very frightened and worried about it". She cites health scares over low frequency pulsing noise.

Her husband is unwell. She also warns about the risk of blade-flicker to traffic safety on the adjacent, busy road alongside the reservoir.

"To live only 318 metres away from a 125 metre turbine in a quiet rural setting is frightening for us. The machines will completely and utterly dominate the landscape and the noise emitted will be overbearing in our quiet location."

Carolyn and Matthew Whitaker have had no offers for their four-bedroom house with stabling and 3.5 acres at East Berwick. "Everyone who has come to look asks about the new turbines. I am unable to say anything. We expected to sell quite quickly because this kind of property is not affected by the bad market at the moment."

Down in the valley at Bolton Abbey Estate, the Duke's agent Ben Hayes seems personally sympathetic to the objections. "We appreciate that the proposal by Yorkshire Water to replace the current four turbines with two large ones is extremely emotive. The estate is one of the many interested parties and we must rely on the democratic process to take its course so that the arguments for and against are properly heard."

If the turbines are allowed, the estate will then decide whether it will give permission. Factors will include the opinions of tenants and private residents and statutory stakeholders such as English Heritage, the impact of the larger turbines on the skyline, and the lease payments by Yorkshire Water.

Ben Hayes adds: "The estate has been here for 800 years and we like to think it has done a reasonable job of trying to balance sustenance and well-being with the pressure of economics and keeping it very attractive in terms of protecting what we have created."