DEFENCE bosses have insisted that 16 giant wind turbines at Scout Moor would affect the radar for an airfield halfway across Lancashire.

Ministry of Defence officials are in urgent talks with bosses at Peel Energy over the proposed recommissioning of the sprawling Edenfield wind plant.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Air chiefs at BAE, who own Warton Airfield, where the affected air traffic control radar is situated, have backed the MoD’s protest that the 115-metre high structures would block the radar.

Initially the safeguarding department of NATS, which oversees the integrity of air traffic control systems nationwide, had voiced concerns about the effect of the turbines as far away as Prestwick.

But in late July NATS informed Rossendale Council that an agreement had been reached with the wind farm applicants, to confirm that the effects of the turbines could be ‘mitigated’.

Plans for the recommissioned wind farm, which would originally have housed 26 turbines but will now have 16, have been recommended for approval, with Rossendale Council’s development control committee meeting next Tuesday.

However the advice has been given on the basis that there is a satisfactory conclusion to the technical discussions between BAE, Manchester Airport and the applicants over air traffic control concerns.

Stephen Stray, the council’s development control manager, said: “The proposed development would generate a significant level of renewable energy for up to 25 years.

“The proposals will also secure the restoration of an extensive area of a degraded peatland moor which together make a valuable contribution to cutting greenhouse gas emissions .”

Elsewhere the scheme has attracted opposition from a number of residents and public bodies, either side of the moors.

Edenfield Village Residents Association has claimed the moors have already been damaged by the existing turbines and remain opposed to further development, with worries ranging from effects on roads during construction and further TV reception interference.

Officials from the Holcombe Society has also insisted that talk of a community benefit fund was ‘unworkable’ as there were was still remaining unspent 10 years on.