Belthorn in the dark on new wind farm plan (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Belthorn in the dark on new wind farm plan

9:36am Thursday 30th April 2009 in Belthorn By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

A FRESH battle is set to be waged against plans for a new wind farm on East Lancashire moorland.

Plans for the wind farm between Oswaldtwistle and Haslingden, unveiled in 2007 by Energiekontor, have been revised by the German firm.

Haslingden and Oswaldtwistle moors had been earmarked for 24 turbines with 130-metre blades.

But now only the Oswald-twistle site is included in a 12-turbine application to Hyndburn council, which is being thrown open to public consultation.

Opposition is already gearing up to the scheme though, with villagers in nearby Belthorn concerned about living in the shadow of the giant ‘windmills’.

Campaigner Catherine Kaufman, from Belthorn, said: “We are against this wind farm as it damages our views and the nearby moorlands.”

Jason Slack, chairman of the Belthorn Village Committee, said: “Apparently there has been consultation with the local community, although the village committee was not contacted about this.

“We wonder whether anyone else in Belthorn was aware of the proposal.”

He has urged fellow residents to ensure their views on the new proposals were registered with the borough council.

Villagers also say that the proposed site is a popular site for skylarks and people living nearby are also worried about possible health implications arising from the turbine’s close proximity.

Peter Harrison, Energie-kontor’s UK general man-ager, said the proposals had been revised in light of representations made about the dual-site plans.

Public consultation exercises will take place at Church and Oswald-twistle Cricket Club, on May 11, from 2pm to 8pm, and at the same times at Accrington Town Hall on May 13.

“This is an opportunity for local residents to see first-hand our revised plans for the Hyndburn Wind Farm on Oswaldtwistle Moor to discuss these with us,” said Mr Harrison.

“We hope that as many people as possible attend and gain an understanding of our revised proposals.”

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