Cautious welcome for wind farm
Plans are being drawn up for a large wind farm on the outskirts of Leeds, it was revealed today.
The proposed development would be located on agricultural land at Hook Moor, near Micklefield and Garforth.
It would involve as many as eight propeller-style turbines, each 80 metres (260ft) in height.
Durham-based Banks Developments is aiming to submit a planning application for the project later this year.
If all goes smoothly, work on site could start by 2009.
The wind farm is thought to be the first scheme of its type proposed for the Leeds metropolitan area.
Banks says it would generate enough energy for up to 10,000 homes without the production of environmentally-damaging greenhouse gases.
But news of the proposals drew a cautious response today in communities near the east Leeds site.
Coun James Lewis (Lab, Kippax & Methley) said: “At the moment the information we have about this is quite sketchy.
“What I will stress, however, is that we will be looking at the plans extremely carefully.”
The location earmarked for the wind farm lies to the east of the junction of the M1 and A1(M), and south of the B1217 Collier Lane.
It is also less than two kilometres from the Edwardian stately home of Lotherton Hall.
Banks has not purchased the land but says it has an “agreement” with the owner, whose identity has not been made public.
The company is already in the process of submitting an application to Leeds City Council for permission for a 60 metre test wind mast.
Its data would help Banks’s experts identify the right kind of turbine for use in the main scheme.
Rob Williams, the firm’s senior project manager, today pledged that feedback from local residents would play an important part in detailed design work on the wind farm.
He went on: “Where the energy that we use comes from and how it is generated is one of the most important issues facing everyone in the 21st century.
“We believe that our proposed Micklefield scheme could make a very positive contribution to meeting this challenge.”
Banks has already won planning permission for wind farms near Doncaster and Barnsley.
It is also hoping to put one in place at Darrington, near Pontefract.
The firm will be holding an exhibition of its Leeds proposals at the Old Fire Station on Great North Road in Micklefield between 3pm and 7pm next Wednesday, July 18.
By Paul Robinson
10 July 2007
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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