Hebden Bridge Web

Tuesday, 30 January 2024

Stop Calderdale Wind Farm - Website launched

From Stop Calderdale Wind Farm

Stop Calderdale Wind Farm – the group who organised the Public Meeting at Wadsworth Community Centre on 6 December 2023 – have now launched a website called www.stopcalderdalewindfarm.co.uk. The website is a platform for growing opposition to the proposal by the Saudi-owned and Saudi-backed Calderdale Wind Farm Ltd to build the largest onshore wind farm in England on Walshaw Moor near Hebden Bridge and Haworth.

The proposal is to install 65 turbines up to 200 metres tall on the Walshaw Moor Estate Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covering an area of more than 9 square miles.

Crimsworth Dean, Hebden Bridge, 1975
© Martin Parr / Magnum Photos

As well as providing information about the destructive physical impact that the wind farm would have on Walshaw Moor SSSI, the increased risk of flooding in the Calder Valley and the irrevocable environmental damage that the development would inflict on internationally-important moorland habitats and wildlife, the website champions what the campaign is fighting for: to protect the spectacular countryside, rich wildlife and world-renowned cultural heritage of the Upper Calder Valley and Brontë Country. A leaflet outlining key objections to the scheme can be downloaded from the website and is also being distributed locally.

High-profile supporters of the Stop Calderdale Wind Farm campaign include the internationally-celebrated documentary photographer Martin Parr, who began his career in Hebden Bridge in the 1970s and has been a member of the Magnum agency since 1994. Many of Parr's photographs focused on the community of Crimsworth Dean, one of the areas that would be worst affected by the wind farm. Several of these images are featured on the Stop Calderdale Wind Farm website and were made available to the campaign by Martin Parr as a personal gesture of support.

Another notable supporter is the highly-respected local cartographer Christopher Goddard, renowned for his exquisite hand-drawn maps annotated with notes and sketches. Goddard's book, West Yorkshire Moors (2013), specifically draws attention to Walshaw Moor, and his knowledge of the countryside and wildlife of the area is unparalleled. Speaking of the proposed wind farm, Goddard points out, "It's not a straightforward issue as many of us support green technologies, but this plan just seems so wrong on so many levels."

Other supporters include novelist Michael Stewart, who has written two highly-acclaimed books inspired by the Brontës – Ill Will: The Untold Story of Heathcliff and Walking the Invisible: following in the Brontës' footsteps. Stewart is also the creator of the Brontë Stones project and is particularly concerned about the damage to the area's literary reputation and to the environment.

"I have only recently become aware of these devastating plans," says Stewart, "but I will do everything I can to mobilise resistance." The website provides links to literary groups such as the Brontë Society and the Elmet Trust. The latter is one of several organisations promoting appreciation of the globally-renowned poet Ted Hughes, who was born in Mytholmroyd and deeply inspired by the moorland landscape of the Upper Calder Valley throughout his life.

The Countryside Charity (Campaign for the Protection of Rural England) is also strongly opposed to the wind farm, which they describe as 'wholly inappropriate' for the proposed location on Walshaw Moor SSSI. Their objections, along with others from the RSPB, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Lancashire Wildlife Trust, are highlighted on the Stop Calderdale Wind Farm website.

The Upper Calderdale Wildlife Network, a group of local conservationists and naturalists who describe Walshaw Moor as the 'Jewel in the Crown' of Calderdale's wildlife sites, have also stated their opposition to the development and their support for the Stop Calderdale Wind Farm campaign.

A key aim of the Stop Calderdale Wind Farm website is to encourage community engagement. As well as providing clear information about the scale and scope of the development and the impact it will have on the landscape, wildlife and people of the Upper Calder Valley and Brontë Country, the website explains how the public can express their concerns and voice their opposition, notably by writing to Calderdale Council.

Objectors can sign up to the Stop Calderdale Wind Farm campaign mailing list via the website. Other online platforms are also highlighted, including the Discussion Forum on Hebweb and the independently-run Calderdale Wind Farm Action Group on Facebook.

The Stop Calderdale Wind Farm website draws attention to flaws in the consultation process administered by Calderdale Council's Planning Department following the publication of the Scoping Report by the developer's consultants, Natural Power, in September 2023.

Some of the congregation making there way to the Crimsworth Dean Chapel Anniversary, Dean, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, 1975
© Martin Parr / Magnum Photos

Although a few Parish Councils, such as Wadsworth and Heptonstall, were consulted and submitted objections, many others were not informed of the development and were unaccountably omitted from the list of consultees. Notable amongst the list of missing consultees were Hebden Royd Town Council, Todmorden Town Council, Oxenhope Village Council and Haworth Parish Council.

Calderdale Council have agreed to accept late responses, however, so the website calls upon Parish Councils and Town Councils throughout Calderdale and neighbouring boroughs to respond to the wind farm proposals as soon as possible.

For more information, visit www.stopcalderdalewindfarm.co.uk