Calderdale Energy Park – Turning a National Park into an Industrial Park...!
Of all places in the UK The Yorkshire Moors are now at the heart of a bitter fight over the future of renewable energy.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, based a couple of hundred miles away (naturally) in London has given the go-ahead for plans for the Calderdale Energy Park — England's largest onshore wind farm — made up of more than 40 turbines, each 200 metres high.
Now obviously for thos into the green tech vision the upside of this is a lot more wind power, a significant step towards the UK's Net Zero targets.
However, the location, visibile from the Pennine Way, a much loved national trail, is questionable to say the least. Putting up these MASSIVE wind turbines would be akin to turning that national park into an industrial park.
inverse Nimbyism....
UK planning law has traditionally accepted that there are certain locations which need to be afforded special protection from industrialisation, even when the industrialisation is itself in the public interest. The Yorkshire Moors and that walk should be protected on this basis.
One has to ask whether Ed Milliband would be supportive of such a plan if it were suggested for Parliament Hill Fields in his own north London constituency...?
The implication here is that the countryside and areas of natural beauty are sometimes treated as expendable in a manner that urban green spaces are not.
There must be alternatives....?
Offshore wind remains more expensive, although technological development may reduce that gap. There is also scope for developing the renewable potential in less sensitive onshore locations, coupled with investment in solar, tidal power, and energy efficiency measures.
For me trashing one of our relatively few national parks simply isn't worth the cost here!
I saw a Guardian columnist actually agree with Tr-mp that wind turbines (not windmills) could be an eyesore. They can be very productive, but it's better to stick them out at sea really. We need a mix of renewables to get fairly good base level supply. Wave and tidal could also be options. We are a fairly small island and should not trash the nice bits.
As for all the new roads, massive warehouses, nuclear power stations and housing developments....
To be fair, I don't mind the look of turbines on the landscape. They got a put em somewhere. Unless they go nuclear, there's not much else they can do? We have them here too, and everyone gets upset but then we get used to them.
I agree anywhere else as you cannot trash the National Parks. There are much better options available and this is not surprising coming from a Milliband and everyone should have suspected as he is a complete moron.
I know where those turbines are, and they are not new. Been there for well over a decade.