Pendle villagers win first round in mast fight (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Pendle villagers win first round in mast fight

3:17pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

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BATTLING villagers have won the first round in a ‘David versus Goliath’ battle with phone giants BT over a 60-metre high mast and expected wind farm which could ruin a haven for badgers, buzzards and bats in Pendle.

The telecoms firm wants to branch out into renewable energy and had unveiled proposals for an anemometer at Moor Isle Farm, Wood End Road, Reedley Hallows, to gauge wind speeds in the area.

But neighbours and residents in nearby Higham and Fence have launched a campaign against their windfarm project, which could see four 100-metre high plus turbines installed and visible across Pendle Witch country.

Lancashire Telegraph columnist Ron Freethy is among the protesters, and has told councillors there are 110 bird species in the area, and evidence of badger setts.

He added: “The ecological survey for this is not worth the paper it is written on.”

David Duckworth, who lives in the nearby Grade Two listed Greenhead Manor, said as a keen ornithologist he knew Moor Isle was home to buzzards and a variety of species.

“My home was built in 1687 and you can imagine the impact this mast will have on it,” he said.

Nearby resident Alan Riley said: “There is going to be a windfarm and it is no surprise that the Goliath which is BT is trying to bulldoze this through. This is green belt land and the lungs of Pendle.”

Protests had also been lodged by Reedley Hallows Parish Council, which complained that Moor Isle was an Area of Outstanding Beauty and voiced worries that a wind farm would be inevitable, if the anemometer was allowed.

People living nearby were also upset that the developers had moved plant machinery onto the site just hours after the proposals were rejected by Pendle Council’s Brierfield and Reedley Committee.

Claire Osborne, planning agent for BT, said a special case could be made for erecting the 60-metre mast, which would be required for a two year period, as investigations were being carried out into the site’s potential for wind energy.