Wind farm inquiry winds up

Jun 19 2005 By Lucy West, Sunday Sun

The public inquiry into a £55m plan to build one of the biggest wind farms in Europe at a North beauty spot is at an end.

Both sides in the bitter battle over the Whinash site, between Tebay and Shap in Cumbria, face an anxious wait for the inquiry's verdict as it will not be revealed for at least six months.

Environmental groups support the plan for 27 giant turbines - each one would be 377ft (113m) high - as a source of clean energy, but local campaigners and tourism bosses say the impact on one of the most scenic parts of the country would be disastrous.

Before making his final report to the Department of Trade and Industry, inquiry inspector David Rose will do a tour of the site.

If the plan gets the go-ahead from the DTI, the turbines could provide power for up to 47,000 homes.

The 22-acre site, close to the M6 motorway, stretches from the Yorkshire Dales to the Lake District National Park.

The Cumbrian Tourist Board is among those opposed to the plan, and naturalist David Bellamy has vowed to chain himself to the turbines if the plan goes ahead.

Tourism bosses fear the farm would deliver a £75m blow to their industry. They estimate that more than a million visitors will stay away because of the visual impact of the development.

Tourist board chairman Eric Robson, the TV and radio broadcaster, revealed the figures to the inquiry.

He said: "These 27 flickering turbines, each of them the height of Blackpool Tower, in an area which the Government's own landscape agency says is worthy of National Park status, already between two National Parks, can not be good."