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!