'Big impact on Bradford but insufficient windfarm consultation'

Consultation over a major and controversial giant windfarm project on moorland – which will impact Bronte country – has fallen well short of standard, claims Bradford Council.

Although Calderdale Energy Park (CEP) plans to put 34 giant wind turbines on Walshaw Moor is on Calderdale moorland, it will have a big impact on Bradford.

The company says the turbines, which would be located between Hebden Bridge and Haworth, will generate enough low carbon electricity to power 198,000 homes a year.

But the proposals have met with strong resistance from campaigners concerned about potential damage to peatland and loss of moorland habitat which is home to birds.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will ultimately decide whether or not this controversial application is given the go-ahead.

The council claims it has not been consulted sufficiently through the consultation process and has specific concerns about some aspects.

And in a withering criticism in its response to CEP, Bradford Council says: “The council and local communities have effectively been consulted on an abstract concept rather than a transparent, scientifically robust infrastructure design.”

Like Calderdale, Bradford Council concludes the environmental information in its current iteration fails to meet statutory thresholds.

Key concerns the authority raises include over a cabling corridor from the windfarm which will go through Bradford if the project is allowed, where CEP indicates a study will not start until the post-consultation “environmental statement” stage of the process.

The council is also very critical of “flaws” in assessing impact on the “globally significant” Bronte cultural landscape.

“There are also other fundamental impacts on Bradford district as the main project area abuts the Bradford border and will have significant impacts on the Bradford’s important and historic landscape, biodiversity, its historic towns and villages, and tourism,” says the council.

They also say they have not been asked by CEP to be party to events, meetings, technical working groups, involved in environmental impact assessment development, and more.

Nor has Bradford been offered any Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) to assist in resourcing the council’s planning and specialist teams – PPAs often include a fee to cover the additional officer time and specialist input over and above standard application fees, says the council.

But CEP says it takes all feedback seriously and remains committed to “constructive and ongoing engagement with Bradford Council, statutory consultees and the local community as the project progresses through the planning process.”

It says the statutory consultation was undertaken in accordance with legal requirements and its own Statement of Community Consultation, while the consultation period exceeded the statutory minimum to ensure sufficient time for engagement.

CEP says: “We made proactive efforts to engage with Bradford Council ahead of and during the consultation, including offering multiple opportunities to meet with the council’s technical teams.

“As it has not been possible until now, we expect such meetings to be scheduled in the next weeks.”

The company says consultation at this stage is important, allowing feedback to inform the final design.

“The Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) sets out the applicant’s preliminary assessment of likely significant effects and is therefore not as detailed as the Environmental Statement that will accompany a future development consent order (DCO) application.

The consultation has generated a significant level of engagement, having received over 1,000 responses to date, which are now being carefully reviewed, says CEP.

“We recognise the importance of keeping communities informed and engaged as the project evolves.

“As part of this, we are planning a reporting back exercise later this year to share how feedback has been considered and to provide updates on the next stage of the project,” says the company.

There might be some cash available to the council, the CEP spokesperson added.

“Calderdale Energy Park remains willing to provide necessary funding to support the work of host local authorities during the DCO process, either via a planning performance agreement or the statutory cost-recovery mechanisms,” they said.

Another organisation which has responded to the consultation is Campaign to Protect Rural England (West Yorkshire), which is also critical in its response, raising concerns about the location, potential for peatland and habitat including loss of blanket bog and flood risk, the quality of the environment (PIER) report which it calls “insufficient” for communities, consultees and other organisations to understand the full likely effects of the proposal, the impact on Bronte country – and that The King’s Bradford Pennine Gateway National Nature Reserve designation is a material change since the previous non-statutory consultation CEP undertook.

CPRE asks CEP to withdraw the proposal  or “fundamentally relocate it away from Walshaw Moor.”

“The applicant has not demonstrated that the proposal avoids unacceptable harm to irreplaceable blanket bog, deep peat, protected habitats, protected species, hydrology, flood resilience, landscape character, cultural setting and affected communities,” they responded.