Farmland turbine in line for approval

plans for a single wind turbine on farmland near Huddersfield look set to be approved.

Kirklees Council planning officers have concluded that an 18.3 metre high turbine at Nether End Farm, off Barnsley Road, Denby Dale, would not have a detrimental effect on nearby properties.

Eleven objectors, including the Campaign to Protect Rural England, claimed the turbine would ruin the open countryside and have an impact on the setting of several listed buildings, one of them Grade II*.

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Objectors said the turbine would be intrusive and would affect footpaths as well as lead to an increase in noise.

A council planning report said the plans satisfied national and local guidelines.

“The landscape has the capacity to accommodate the small wind turbine proposed and the development would not have a detrimental impact to the amenity of adjacent properties.”

Planners said that a wind turbine should be viewed as a “long term reversible addition to the landscape, preserving the choice for future generations whether or not to retain what might be regarded as the landscape fabric of today.”

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The report said it was not clear whether the change in the views was a positive or negative effect as this was down to the “perception of the viewer”.

The site itself falls within the Emley Moor Capacity Area, according to a previous report on wind farms in the South Pennines.

The Emley Moor area is designated as an area where one or two small groups of wind turbines, or one small wind farm, can be built.

“Taking into account the guidance set out in the South Pennines Landscape Capacity study, the local landscape is considered to be capable of accommodating a small single wind turbine,” the council planning report concluded.

Members of the planning sub-committee will decide the matter on Thursday.