April 11, 2012
England

Turbine opponents vow to fight on

Press Association, www.maltonmercury.co.uk 10 April 2012

Campaigners against a plan to build giant wind turbines on Bradford moors associated with the Bronte sisters have vowed to fight on after they lost the first stage of their battle.

A developer which wants to put up four turbines on Thornton Moor, west of Bradford, was given planning permission on Wednesday to erect a 200ft high wind monitoring mast on the site.

People living close to the moor were hoping to stop the development in its tracks at the meeting of councillors in Shipley, West Yorkshire.

The moor is a couple of miles from the famous parsonage at Haworth, where the Bronte sisters and their family lived, and which is now preserved as a museum.

Experts say their work – including Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights – was heavily influenced by the moorland landscape of the area. The Bronte Way footpath also runs straight across Thornton Moor.

Banks Renewables wants to build turbines next to the route of the footpath. The mast is part of process of assessing the suitability of the site.

Anthea Orchard, who lives in nearby Denholm Gate and chairs the Thornton Moor Windfarm Action Group, said: “We’ve got to dust ourselves down, re-group and start again. We submitted our case but they voted against us 4 to 2.”

Mrs Orchard said: “This is just the start. I think they will put the mast up in the next few weeks. We can now start for preparing for the full application.”

The group believes the wind farm is too close to a Site of Special Scientific Interest and houses as well as being a blot on the landscape.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/04/11/turbine-opponents-vow-to-fight-on/