Gazette News
Chelker turbines application rejected
7:00am Friday 17th February 2012
A water company is under pressure to remove “rotting tooth stump” wind turbines from scenic high ground at the Chelker Reservoir, near Addingham.
Craven District Council has rejected Kelda Water’s planning application to replace the mainly defunct existing four turbines with two new ones twice the height.
The planning committee unanimously refused permission on Monday for the 75-metre turbines because of the impact on ancient monuments and landscape painted by JMW Turner and written about by John Ruskin.
They also objected on the grounds of the scheme’s impact on the countryside, despite being urged by Kelda Water, part of Yorkshire Water, to be brave and support renewable energy.
There was also a call for officers to come back to a future meeting outlining how the council could force the removal of the existing turbines.
Councillor Robert Heseltine (Ind) said: “A reasonable approach would be if they are not working, they should go.”
He added that with hindsight, the original decision to approve the turbines had been a “mammoth mistake”.
Kelda Water’s Richard Sears told councillors turbines had been a well-established feature at the site for 16 years.
“Approving our application would demonstrate real courage and real leadership. It is an opportunity to show what a pragmatic and progressive council Craven District Council is, just like its predecessors did back in July 1996 when wind technology was in its infancy,” he said.
But councillors were told the grade one listed Bolton Priory, Farfield Hall at Addingham and other listed buildings would have their settings harmed by the intrusive turbines.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park was among objectors to the scheme, and English Heritage wanted a referral to the Secretary of State if it was approved.
Peter Rigby, from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), described the existing turbines as an “industrial graveyard” and “rotting tooth stumps” that could clearly be seen from various points of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Ward councillor and council leader Coun Chris Knowles-Fitton (Cons) said new turbines should not be allowed just because of the old ones. He said permission had originally been given when wind energy was in its infancy and there had been a willingness to let it prove itself.
But the new turbines would have a serious impact on the lives of residents of Berwick.
Coun Paul English (Lib Dem) said even though he was a supporter of renewable energy, he could not back the Chelker scheme because of the impact on the landscape. “It is too big, overbearing and would have too much of an impact,” he said.
After the meeting, CPRE’s Mr Rigby called on Kelda to return the site to agricultural use.