Large Windfarm proposal
From Caroline Mullen
Sunday, 22 October 2023
I thought you might update the article on the proposed windfarm at Walshaw to include the Scoping report submitted by the company to Calderdale Council - and the responses to that from consultees. So far there are responses from National Trust, Slow the Flow, Bradford Council, Historic England, and some others. Calderdale Council departments, RSPB, Natural England have been consulted and I assume they are working on responses - I can see it would take time.
The Scoping report includes documents showing where the proposed turbines would be located, and the estimated depth of peat at those locations - that includes many turbines located on areas that have deep peat. The consultees, I think, are doing a rigorous job in identifying important questions raised by the Scoping report. This includes questions about the feasibility of planting trees on peat bog, questions about Biodiversity Net Gain given the importance of the current site (and despite the serious concerns about how it has been managed in recent years), and questions about access to and across the site for construction vehicles.
The Report and consultee comments can be accessed here.
Public can't comment on this (which may be why it says there are no public comments), so it's just the organisations they have consulted - I think the Council are using the generic planning site)
The planning website is a bit clunky, and you have to click through to find comments - and some comments are uploaded as documents, others not. But if people are interested/concerned about the windfarm, it's worth reading and I think gets past sometimes unhelpful for/against.
From Tim M
Tuesday, 24 October 2023
This scheme is very concerning. Whilst it is imperative we address the climate crisis the impact 65 turbines will have on this landscape is rather throwing the baby out with the bathwater! Irreplaceable habitat simply can't be replaced, it's hard to understand how this will 'enhance' biodiversity and that's before the impact on the cultural heritage. I'm not convinced that the use of methodology for assessing the impact of windfarms on Scotland is directly applicable either. As this doesn't comply with the local plan, hopefully it's not going to happen, but I doubt we'll see the last of it anytime soon.
From Bill S
Wednesday, 25 October 2023
So what is the point.
We apparently produce less than 1 percent of the worlds Carbon footprint. So building a wind farm up on moors to power a 1/4 million homes wont make a blind bit of difference in the grand scheme of things.
Even if the whole of the UK became Carbon neutral, it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference.....
The only beneficiaries will be the land owner and the turbine companies. Not us, not the land, not the environment, not the nature, not the world.
Of course one could say if everybody does their bit we might save the world. That is not happening, its not going to happen. It is not Economically viable for most major carbon polluting countries in the world.
So why spoil such a beautiful moorland with giant uneconomical wind turbines.
From Chris Barnett
Thursday, 26 October 2023
Here's a link to an article by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit, which puts the 1% emissions figure in a wider context.
From Caroline Mullen
Saturday, 28 October 2023
Thanks to Chris for posting the blog piece. Some useful information.
The overwhelming evidence I understand from IPCC and more widely is that we can't ignore carbon/GHG emissions from any source, and face a huge and urgent challenge to decarbonise.
Two questions on this which are relevant to the proposed windfarm on this specific site:
1. As others have said there is an acute biodiversity crisis. If the development adds to that, even for decarbonisation it may be (dangerously) counterproductive. The consultees (including RSPB, Environment Agency, Natural England) have numerous comments on assessing biodiversity implications of the plan.
2. The Environment Agency response to the scoping report says: "More attention needs to be paid to the layers of peat and what damage will be caused. Peat if wet will absorb carbon; however, if it dries out because of building the wind turbines and associated concrete pads with excavation down to 4m, it will become a net carbon emitter."
These are 'ifs' but, I think, really important ones for assessing the overall plan. The specific site proposed, and assessment of the detail of what is planned, seems critical here.
From Ms P Finch
Wednesday, 22 November 2023
The moor will become a giant sieve if these proposals go ahead, completely defeating all the time and money invested in flood management in the valley by the Environment Agency, Slow the Flow , Treesponsibility and others.
Each turbine base goes 6 metres into the ground.
In addition, access road materials will be dug up from the moor itself - even more invasive.
There couldn't be a more comprehensive and cynical way to trash the valuable moorland ecology than this.
From Steven Oldroyd
Thursday, 7 December 2023
Following on from last nights meeting I have set up a facebook group to oppose the windfarm developments.
Please join and share the group. Here's the link.
See also:
HebWeb News: Large Windfarm proposed for hills above Hebden Bridge
What's On: Public Meeting - Stop Calderdale Wind Farm