Calderdale Windfarm: Plans to build windfarm on Yorkshire moorland with turbines as big as Blackpool Tower

Last week Calder Wind Farm Ltd’s (CWFL) announced a non-statutory consultation would begin over its proposals to put up dozens of wind turbines placed on Walshaw Moor, above Hebden Bridge.

Initial proposals for 65 of the turbines – each of which would be as big as Blackpool Tower – would have seen it become England’s biggest on-shore windfarm, though the company announced downsizing to 41 turbines, if permission is ultimately given.

Campaign group Stop Calderdale Windfarm, which is co-ordinating opposition, says the fight against the turbines goes on.

They claim the scheme risks damaging blanket peat bogs, which help provide protection against flooding and would also “significantly” increase carbon emissions, exacerbating, rather than reducing, climate change.

The group says: “Although the scheme has been scaled back from 65 to 41 turbines in response to strong local opposition, it would still devastate the carbon-rich peat moorland above Hebden Bridge and Haworth, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a thriving breeding ground for endangered curlews, lapwings and golden plovers.”

Stop Calderdale Wind Farm are urging people to respond to the public consultation which lasts until June 10.

They say opponents can email their objections to the developers at [email protected] or write to them at FREEPOST CALDERDALE ENERGY PARK.

The developers are holding two exhibitions in the area at Hebden Bridge Town Hall on Tuesday, May 13, from 1.30pm to 7pm and at Oxenhope Community Centre on Saturday, May 17, from noon to 5pm and the campaigners are encouraging local residents to go along to these exhibitions and make their views known.

Some MPs, including Keighley and Ilkley Conservative Robbie Moore, who is urging Parliamentary colleagues in constituencies which would be affected including those in Calderdale to present a united front against the proposals, are also worried about the scheme.

Wadsworth Parish Council is also carrying out a Wind Farm Survey for local residents which closes soon – and the group says details of this and the developers’ consultation are on the Stop Calderdale Wind Farm website – www.stopcalderdalewindfarm.co.uk.

The group says: “An intrusive industrial development consisting of 41 turbines 200 metres in height covering nine square miles is completely inappropriate for this location, especially given its proximity to the National Trust estate of Hardcastle Crags and the beautiful valley of Crimsworth Dean.

“Visually the turbines would completely dominate the landscape.

“This highly insensitive development would ruin some of the most outstanding countryside in Yorkshire, causing irrevocable damage to the natural and cultural heritage of Calderdale and Bronte Country – the landscape that inspired the Brontes and Ted Hughes,” they claim.

The Calderdale Energy Park has been designated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, because of its electricity generation capability, says the company.

This means it will require a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the Secretary of State.

A formal statutory consultation on the company’s updated plans will also be held later this year.

Calder Wind Farm Ltd argues that the Calderdale Energy Park would be capable of generating enough electricity to power the equivalent of approximately 250,000 homes and reduce national CO2 emissions by approximately 354,000 tonnes each year, they claim.