Profile: Peter Sharpe

He commanded an army regiment in Iraq for seven months in 2003 and during the nineties he was involved in the Bosnian war.

So he was well prepared to face the wrath of residents in the Yorkshire Dales who were worried that the national park was at risk of being swallowed up by a series of wind farm developments.

Kelda Water Services (KWS) has a number of wind energy projects, totalling £100m, at various stages of development across Yorkshire, to generate electricity for its sister company Yorkshire Water.

However, some of the sites face fierce opposition. KWS’s application for two 75-metre turbines on land at the Chelker reservoir site, at Addingham, near Ilkley, was refused by Craven District Council this month following objections from The Yorkshire Dales National Park and English Heritage among others.

Sitting in the bright and airy canteen of Yorkshire Water’s office at Clarence Dock in Leeds, business development director Sharpe says the planning process is one of the company’s biggest challenges.

“We fully accept that some of these sites are contentious and they do have an impact. We make every effort to consult on the sites and we try to mitigate those impacts but in the end we put forward the best proposal we can and that goes into the process,” he says.

Earlier this month, over 100 MPs wrote to the Prime Minister, urging cuts in public subsidies to UK wind farms, on the grounds that they are neither efficient to run nor pleasing on the eye.

“It’s something we would watch closely but there’s no indication that that’s the Government’s intention at all,” says Sharpe.

He adds: “The wind doesn’t blow all the time but I’ve lived here long enough to know the wind does blow in Yorkshire.”

KWS is part of the Kelda Water Group. With a £100m turnover and about 200 staff, it looks after the non-regulated side of the business. It provides half of Northern Ireland’s clean water as well as water and waste water services for 1,100 Ministry of Defence sites.

In addition, it is bidding for six contracts in southern Ireland to design, build and operate sites which produce either clean water or treat waste water.

It has also been shortlisted, in partnership with Scottish Water, to build an anaerobic digestion plant for Edinburgh and Midlothian Council. It has a similar proposal with Welsh Water in Cardiff.

However, its work in Yorkshire is centred around helping Yorkshire Water reduce its £45m annual energy bill and lowering its carbon footprint.

As well as the wind energy projects, it also plans to develop two anaerobic digestion plants in the region, costing up to £15m each. Each one would produce two-three per cent of Yorkshire Water’s electricity supply and create 10 new jobs per site.

“We have a shortlist and we plan to choose two sites,” says Sharpe. “We are looking to submit planning applications in the next 12 months. They would be built on or adjacent to Yorkshire Water waste treatment sites.”

Sharpe believes the Government should do more to create a stable environment for businesses to invest in renewable energy as well as create consistency within the planning system.

“There is a degree of vacuum and contradiction in the planning system at the moment,” he says. “The new Government came in and took away the regional spacial strategy, which removed lots of targets for local authorities, including renewable energy generation.

“I think there is tension between localism and the more national agenda where there is almost a presupposition of planning being granted. I think what clearly we need to do is make sure people understand how those regulations and guidelines are going to be applied.”

He adds: “The planning environment is always challenging. We need to ensure we get the balance right between the impact on local communities and low carbon generation and maintaining the reputation of the company.

“I don’t recognise some of the descriptions of how we operate as a company. We put ourselves through the wringer in internal meetings on what we do and how we mitigate things. We don’t just say: ‘Here’s a square kilometre of land how many wind turbines can we get on it?’ ”

Sharpe’s career has taken a rather different turn in recent years.

The son of a Vauxhall main dealer, he was born in Nottingham and moved to Lincolnshire as a teenager. As the youngest of six children, he jokes his ambition when he was growing up was “to be by myself”.

He decided to study for a chemistry degree at Imperial College London and applied to the army for sponsorship so he didn’t have to ask his parents for money. “In return I was meant to do five years’ return of service and I didn’t get round to leaving for 20 years.”

He describes his first few months training at Sandhurst as a “culture shock”. “I would question anyone who says they enjoyed their experience of Sandhurst. You have shared adversity,” he says.

His first post at the age of 21 was leading a patrol of 28 soldiers on the streets of west Belfast in 1984. “You grow up quickly,” he says.

Sharpe worked his way up through the ranks of the army and describes the 2003 conflict in Iraq, particularly in the months after the war had officially ended, as “unstable and scary”. “It was a full blown insurgency going on,” he says. “It was quite dangerous. There were some quite sticky moments and you’re there trying to conduct normal life.”

However, he says Bosnia was the worst man-to-man inhumanity he has ever witnessed. “I think Bosnia was shocking for what a group of people would do to another group of people. It was awful.”

In 2005, at the age of 42 and after reaching the position of colonel, Sharpe decided to leave the army. “I needed a change,” he says. “I’d commanded a regiment and been a test pilot. I’d done everything I’d wanted to do and going forwards it was desk jobs and I didn’t really fancy that.”

He immediately got a job in industry, working for Parkwood Consultancy Services based in Stratford-Upon-Avon followed by a stint at Shanks Waste Management in Cumbria.

Three years ago he was headhunted by KWS. “I think some people do struggle when they leave the army, but if I’m honest, I didn’t,” he says.

The father-of-two loves sport and last season coached the Bury St Edmunds Under 12 Girls hockey team to win the Suffolk League and the Suffolk Cup.

He describes himself as outgoing, confident and focused. “I believe in what I do,” he says.

Peter Sharpe Factfile

Title: Business development director

Date of birth: December 10, 1961

Education: Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Alford, Lincolnshire; Chemistry degree at Imperial College London

First job: Sports shop assistant

Car driven: Golf

Favourite holiday: Italy

Favourite film: Grosse Pointe Blank

Favourite song: London Calling by The Clash or Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers

Last book read: This Accursed Land: Douglas Mawson’s Incredible Antarctic Journey, by Lennard Bickel

Most proud of: When my children win at sport