March 9, 2007
U.K.
U.K.
Wind turbines planned for Todmorden Moor and Crook Hill, near Walsden, will be the tallest structures in Calderdale.
At 410ft to the tip of the rotor blades, they will be more that twice the size of those at Ovenden Moor.
Even the machine hubs will only be a fraction shorter than Wainhouse Tower, as our graphic shows.
Charlie Rattan, of Coronation Power, which is behind the scheme, said: “Machines today are generally taller, as they can generate more power and are more efficient.
“It means you need fewer to generate an equivalent amount of electricity.”
But Chris Edwards, who is co-ordinating a campaign of opposition, said: “It is only when you compare the sizes that you realise what the impact is going to be.
“This helps people realise what monstrosities these proposed turbines actually are.
“Coronation Power is proposing 21 of them, whirling away at 100mph, glinting and flickering in the sun and making a racket.”
Friends of the South Pennines, an umbrella group concerned about three windfarm proposals around Todmorden, will meet again on Monday at the Hollins Inn, Walsden, Todmorden, at 7.30pm.
Mr Edwards said: “If these proposals go ahead, Todmorden as we know it will be degraded and known for a circle of steel structures ““ a much less attractive place to live. All the efforts of recent years to make our town better and for people to take pride in its appearance will be wasted.”
Coronation Power, which has put in a planning application for five turbines on Todmorden Moor and others on nearby hilltops in the Walsden/ Rochdale/Rossendale area, says they will help generate clean and sustainable energy and tackle the harmful effects of climate change.
Members of Todmorden Moor Restoration Trust, who are working with FSP, have warned that the turbines and access tracks will affect the peat and its ability to retain water, the local water table, natural springs and water courses, which, in turn will lead to an increased risk of flooding.
Calderdale Friends of the Earth has asked for evidence in the scheme’s environmental assessment that its potential impacts have been properly assessed and responded to.
Coronation Power estimates the Todmorden Moor wind farm, which has a nominal capacity of 15 megawatts, could contribute power sufficient for approximately 8,300 homes ““ about 10 per cent of the Calderdale domestic consumption ““ when working at full power.
If planning consent is obtained, building work could begin in the second half of 2008.
By Michael Peel
8 March 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/03/09/planned-turbine-is-a-whopper/