Growing anger over plans for huge wind farm near Hebden Bridge as petition hits milestone 

Petition calling for ban on wind farms on peatland has reached 10,000 signatures.

Campaigners fighting plans for a large wind farm near Hebden Bridge have been backed by more than 10,000 people who have signed a petition calling for a ban on wind farms on peatland.

Great Edge above Widdop Reservoir, one of the moorland areas which could be affected by the turbine plan (Image: Save Walshaw Moor campaign group)

Campaign group Stronger Together to Stop Calderdale Windfarm said they were delighted that so many people had signed the Parliamentary petition. “This means that the government must respond to them,” the campaign group said. The petition can be found here.

Spokesperson Jenny Shepherd said: “It is vital that the Government acts on our message about the importance of protected peatland throughout England.

“Their drive to speed up construction of big onshore wind farms is all about reaching Net Zero – but peatland restoration is also essential to these efforts.

“These habitats capture and store huge amounts of carbon dioxide: up to four times as much as tropical rainforest for instance. So it makes no sense to damage peatlands by building windfarms on them. These areas also enjoy international protection for endangered birds, and have a vital role in mitigating flooding in the valleys and providing good quality water.”

The campaign group is lobbying to stop plans for a large windfarm on Walshaw Moor which they say would disturb peat bogs and release carbon into the atmosphere.

Calderdale Energy Park had wanted to build 65 turbines but has since scaled this back to 41. The company says the scheme will provide energy to power around 250,000 homes a year and “presents a key opportunity to support the UK Government’s Net Zero targets, particularly given the strong wind resource at Walshaw Moor.”

The company says the wind farm will bring benefits including renewable energy.

Campaigners are adamant that the revised scheme will ‘just as damaging’ to the peatlands. They say Walshaw Moor is environmentally protected as part of the South Pennine Moors Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest.
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Campaigner Penny Price said: “Peat is so sensitive to disturbance that even one small vehicle tracking across it can cause damage which can last for years, so imagine what would happen when machinery carrying components weighing hundreds of tonnes has to cross it.

“The tracks required would act as dams severing different sections of the blanket bog, with seriously adverse effects. Peat grows at a rate of a millimetre per year and some of the peat on Walshaw Moor has been growing since the Bronze Age. Once damaged, it would take just as long to restore it.”

A non-statutory public consultation about Calderdale Energy Park runs until June 10. Public exhibitions have been held in Hebden Bridge and Oxenhope, with a third to come at Trawden Forest Community Centre, Colne, Lancashire, on May 29.