Opposition over England's biggest wind farm plan
Plans for the largest onshore wind farm in England have been met with opposition from wildlife campaigners.
In late 2023, Calderdale Wind Farm Ltd said it was exploring options for the installation of 65 turbines on Walshaw Moor in Calderdale.
The company said the scheme, near Hebden Bridge, would generate enough electricity to power more than 286,000 homes a year.
A public meeting is set to take place on Wednesday, with campaigners concerned about the impact on the moorland and ground-nesting birds.
Penny Price, of the Upper Calderdale Wildlife Group, said: “What you're doing is creating this huge impermeable landscape that water can’t soak into.
"If you’re doing that above a valley with a huge flood problem, is that a good idea?"
She added: “It’s also one of the most important areas for curlews, they’re greatly under threat and if you put 65 turbines up they will not come back."
The Stop Calderdale Wind Farm group also spoke out against the potential development, calling it an "environmental destruction and de-wilding of Walshaw Moor".
Local travel writer Horatio Clare, who backs the campaign, said: “The moor has been a comfort and an inspiration for hundreds of years and what you’re looking at here is the complete destruction of this miracle.
“Of course it’s important we have green energy, but it’s important we have something left and we can’t just turn this world into a giant power generating battery."
Calderdale Wind Farm Ltd said its aim was to “develop a project that complements the local environment” and described local input as "crucial" while the proposal was being refined.
Calderdale Council said a full public consultation would take place after a planning application is submitted for the site.
New wind farms have effectively been banned in England since 2015, but the rules changed in 2023, opening the door to new applications.
The largest current onshore wind farm in the UK is at Whitelee, near Glasgow, which has 215 turbines.
It was also built on a peat moor that attracts wading birds.
Scottish Power employee Rachel Short, an ecology manager for the site, said the company had taken "great care" to protect the peat by "floating" access roads on top of it and reburying peat disturbed during construction.
She said the wind farm had not destroyed birdlife at the site, with curlews and snipes returned to the site each year to breed.
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