Plans for England’s largest onshore wind farm, which borders East Lancashire, have been scaled down in response to a local campaign.
Calderdale Wind Farm Limited (CWFL) has updated details in its Programme Document on the project website for plans for the development on Walshaw Moor, which borders Trawden.
The site sits on the Pennine hills above Hebden Bridge, close to the landscapes which inspired Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.
Developers say the document is intended to be living and will continue to be updated as the project progresses through the Development Consent Order process.
The changes include the removal of seven turbines, reducing the number from 41 to 34, and the removal of the Battery Energy Storage System, which CWFL said is a response to feedback received during the non-statutory consultation.
Christian Egal, project director, said: “The refinements to the Calderdale Energy Park proposals demonstrate our commitment to listening to local communities and stakeholders.
“This project represents a major opportunity to deliver home-grown, low-carbon power in support of the UK’s Net Zero goals, and we look forward to continuing the conversation during statutory consultation later this year.”
However, Peatland Alliance campaigners say that the company has been forced to delay the legally required consultation on the proposed development, which should have been underway by now.
Parish councillors asked Calderdale Energy Park to extend the statutory consultation to 12 weeks, as the six-week non-statutory consultation last spring had not given people enough time to respond properly.
Wadsworth Parish Councillor Jon Kimber said: “I am disappointed that the proposed timetable for the Statutory Consultation falls at the same time as the local elections in May, and I hope that this can be delayed in order to allow the council to comment fully on the revised proposal.”
The group adds that CWFL had to do additional unexpected work as a result of criticisms from the Planning Inspectorate in October.
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Peatland Alliance campaigners, who say protected peatland is the wrong place for a wind farm, are asking Calderdale Council and the other local authorities to tell the wind farm developer that its Statement of Community Consultation needs to include Preliminary Environmental Information about the extra survey work.
Peatland Alliance campaigner Jenny Shepherd said: “Why is Calderdale Energy Park in such a rush to submit their Development Consent Order application in November this year?
"Surely it’s better to take the time to show Calderdale Council they've done all the environmental baseline surveys properly, so the statutory consultation can give everyone the information needed to form an intelligent opinion about the damage the windfarm would cause?
“We know that they know they are going to damage the integrity of the moor and the bird assemblages.
"Because they admit they'll ask the Secretary of State to derogate the Habitats Regulations, which make it illegal to cause such damage.
“Calderdale Energy Park seems to think that because the wind farm is Critical National Priority infrastructure for Net Zero, that gives their application a presumption of consent, regardless.
"But it's not just about the climate crisis - we're in the middle of a nature crisis too.
"There must be limits to the destruction of irreplaceable blanket bog that the Secretary of State can allow, when there is plenty of wind on mineral soil locations, with no irreplaceable habitats at risk."
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