The battle over proposals to build a wind farm on Walshaw Moor will define the Government’s attitude towards the countryside - Andrew Vine

An awful lot of us are going to be insulted as not-in-my-back-yard reactionaries over the coming years because of the government’s presumption in favour of developers in its drive to boost economic growth by getting Britain building.

It is being made clear that a fundamental change in planning rules will effectively steamroller local objections. No longer will it be a question of if a development goes ahead, only how it is to be delivered.

This will not only be about whether new homes can be built on land regarded by those living close by as the countryside – even if it does not form part of the green belt.

A relaxation of restrictions on onshore wind farms is also going to pitch developers against residents who will find themselves accused of nimbyism.

And Yorkshire will be on the front line of a series of bitter disputes between communities and those wanting to build – which is very soon going to turn into a test of the government’s popularity.

The country’s first big skirmish could well be on the moors which we in Yorkshire – and the visitors who come from all over the world – think of as Bronte Country.

If developers get their way, Walshaw Moor, between Haworth and Hebden Bridge, will become England’s biggest onshore wind farm, with 65 turbines the height of Blackpool Tower.

Those in favour of the scheme point to jobs being created, green electricity for a quarter-of-a-million households and a financial bonus for people living in the area that will help with their energy bills.

The residents objecting to the plan say it will turn a wild, unspoilt and environmentally-precious area into an industrial landscape.

Nimbys? Or guardians of a unique place in danger of being changed forever?

Good luck to whichever minister has to decide between the two when the application to build the wind farm lands on their desk.

The battle over this corner of Yorkshire is going to define in many people’s minds both the government’s attitude towards the countryside and its view of the right of people to have a say in what happens to the places where they live.

Our county is rich in uplands which will be very attractive to developers of wind farms, and most of these areas don’t enjoy the protection of the two national parks, the Dales and the North Yorkshire Moors. Walshaw Moor may be the first controversial site, but it won’t be the last.

That should raise questions in the minds of Sir Keir Starmer and his senior colleagues about their direction of travel. It is not good for the government to set officialdom and public sentiment at each other’s throats.

Currently, the message is that communities will see new buildings – and possibly wind farms – springing up and if they don’t like it, that’s just tough.

That’s at odds with Sir Keir’s pledge on taking office to listen to Britain. Telling people they needn’t bother objecting, because they won’t be listened to, isn’t the politics of consensus.

It also verges on the anti-democratic. For all its flaws – and there are many – the current planning system takes heed of public concerns. Planning officers consult and residents know they will get a fair hearing if they lobby their local councillors.

The new presumption that the developer is always right and the government will step in to start throwing its weight about if it doesn’t consider a council is doing enough to get homes built also sits very badly with the spirit of local and regional decision-making that Yorkshire has embraced so wholeheartedly.

We’ve got what we have wanted and needed for so many years – the right to determine our own best way forward, thanks to devolved powers and the election of three mayors, with a fourth to follow in Hull and East Yorkshire next year.

Yet suddenly, decisions about development that may make fundamental changes to Yorkshire communities are being taken out of local and regional hands. The planning measures announced in the King’s Speech amount to a return to central control from London.