27 February 2007

Giving their initial response to the planning application recently submitted by Coronation Power for a five turbine windfarm at Todmorden Moor - and after making a site inspection - Calderdale Friends of the Earth have indicated a qualified support for the scheme, but as just one component of a more important carbon reduction plan for Calderdale that now needs to be developed.

A spokesperson for the Calderdale FOE group said: "The urgency is for Calderdale to start to reduce its carbon footprint, and a renewable energy scheme like this can be one component in that plan." Coronation Power are stating that the wind farm will generate up to 15 MW of power for the equivalent of approximately 8,300 homes - about 10% of the Calderdale total.

"But we will also want to see evidence in the scheme's environmental assessment that its potential impacts have been properly assessed and responded to; and in particular that local concerns concerning the impact of the proposed development on the peat moorland and hydrology have been addressed."

Reasons for support are that the site will be partly serviced by an existing trackway, which could lessen damage to the moor; the proximity of the nearby Cold Clough windfarm means that turbines will not be a new introduction into the landscape; and that there is already visual intrusion at the site from unsightly electricity pylons.

This qualified support does not necessarily apply to the parallel application by Coronation Power for a second small windfarm at Reaps Moss, adjacent to Todmorden Moor but in the neighbouring Rossensdale local authority area; concerns here could be the impact of providing site access, and cumulative visual impact in relation to the other nearby turbines.