Hollingworth | Littleborough | Wardle | Whitworth

Introduction

Coronation plans to develop a 12 turbine wind farm on land near Wardle and Littleborough in east Lancashire.  Planning applications for the scheme were submitted to Rochdale and Calderdale Councils in 2007 and the scheme was approved (after appeal) in October 2009 by the Department of Communities & Local Government.

Subject to securing the necessary finance and common land agreements, construction of the wind farm is targeted to start in early-2011 and enter commercial operation later that year.

This section provides an overview of the scheme.

Location
The site is located approximately 4km north of Rochdale and 2km east of Whitworth, on the high ground of Shore Moor to the north of the village of Wardle and Watergrove Reservoir.


Why Here
This site has a high wind speed, is close to a grid connection and not in a nationally protected area which makes it a good location for a wind farm.

Land Ownership

The site is owned by Jeremy Dearden (Lord of the Manor of Rochdale) who has been paid a nominal sum for Coronation to have an exclusive option agreement on the land.

Once the wind farm enters commercial operation, Mr Dearden will be paid an annual land rental fee which will be a percentage of the total revenue generated by the wind farm on the land. This figure has been agreed and is based on industry standard fees.

The Wind Farm Proposal

The wind farm consists of 12 turbines which will be capable of providing enough electricity to meet the domestic energy needs of almost 20,000 homes*. Each turbine will produce up to 3 MW of power, giving the site a potential total output of up to 36 MW. A detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) was undertaken as part of the project development process and was an integral part of the planning applications that were originally submitted to Rochdale Council and Calderdale Council, the local authorities and thereafter the Planning Inspectorate.

*Figures based on average annual household electricity consumption of 4.7 MWh as recommended by BWEA.

Site Feasibility Assessment and Environmental Scoping

A series of technical and environmental studies, such as wind speed, noise, visual impact, local ecology and the archaeology of the surrounding area were undertaken as part of the EIA, and  various organisations were consulted, including Rochdale and Calderdale Councils, Lancashire County Council, Greater Manchester Ecology Unit, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, English Nature, the RSPB and the Environment Agency.
The studies were carried out by Dulas Ltd, one of the UK's leading renewable energy consultancies (www.dulas.org.uk).

Public Consultation

Local consultation was an important part of the planning and development process.

In May and November 2006, we held public exhibitions of our plans and we have had meetings with various civic and community groups, including the Wardle Society and the Crook Hill Commoners as well as answered questions from individuals received via our online feedback mechanism. We also had dialogue with a number of statutory bodies and consulted various commercial firms and public bodies, such as the MoD, Home Office, the mobile phone companies and the CAA

Your views are important so if possible, please complete the on-line questionnaire:

 
   
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Please note that further information will be added to the site but if you have any questions or comments, please email us at info@coronationpower.com

 

 
 
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