CONTROVERSIAL plans for a £50million wind farm in Edenfield are looking set to be blocked by councillors.

A special meeting of the Rossendale development control committee is being held next Tuesday to discuss the proposals from United Utilities and Peel Holdings for a 26-turbine farm on Scout Moor.

The final decision will be made by the Department for Trade and Industry, but council planners have recommended that councillors vote against the plans.

Local residents and environmental groups who have been campaigning against the proposed wind farm are expected to pack out the public gallery to hear the debate.

More than 1,100 people have written to the council outlining their objections and last month around 500 campaigners joined a protest march up Scout Moor, which was led by green champion and broadcaster David Bellamy. They believe that the wind farm will be a blot on the landscape, will be noisy and will result in a loss of green space for people who use and enjoy the countryside, such as walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

Scout Moor is the windiest site in Lancashire with average wind speeds of 15mph - 50 per cent higher than Manchester.

United Utilities believe the farm will help meet the Government's targets for 10 per cent of the UK's electricity to be provided from renewable sources by the end of the decade.

The project will also provide £1million funding for community projects and create up to 130 construction jobs.

If the plans get the go-ahead from the Secretary of State, Scout Moor will provide six times more electricity than Cliviger's wind farm - currently the biggest in the North West.

The development control committee meeting, which is open to the public, is being held in the council chamber at the Astoria, Rawtenstall, starting at 6.30pm.