High Court turbine fight

A HIGH Court battle has been launched in a bid to prevent four wind turbines being built in the Derbyshire countryside.

Plans for the turbine generators and a substation at Carsington Pastures – next to Carsington Water – were initially turned down.

Applicant West Coast Energy then lodged an appeal and at a subsequent public inquiry a Government inspector ruled the effects on the nearby national park and two conservation areas were outweighed by the benefits of creating renewable energy.

The appeal was allowed and planning permission granted in September last year.

But yesterday the Peak District National Park Authority and Derbyshire Dales District Council launched a legal battle to prevent the plans from going ahead.

The national park authority supports the scheme in principle, but fears the giant turbines will have a harmful visual impact on an otherwise protected landscape.

The authority and the council are asking Lord Justice Carnwath, sitting at the High Court in London, to quash a planning inspector's decision.

During the hearing, Anthony Crean QC, representing the authority and council, argued that the inspector had misconstrued planning law.

He said he had made a fundamental error by deciding it was not necessary to consider whether the need for renewable energy could be met on an alternative site where less harm would be caused.

Communities Secretary John Denham and the developer, Carsington Wind Energy Ltd, are opposing the application.

They argued in court that the inspector "reached a conclusion that is unimpeachable in terms of planning judgement".

A statement released by the authority after the hearing said the Peak District National Park was created to protect the area from the pressure of development from surrounding urban areas.

It said: "We do not think the planning inspector gave sufficient weight to the purposes of national parks when considering the impact that these four 102-metre turbines would have on the countryside and views of the national park.

"The authority supports renewable energy schemes in principle but believes that all other alternative locations should be considered first when planning a development of this scale so close to the national park boundary.

"This application would have a direct visual impact on the national park. This is an important case because the decision could have implications for future wind-farm applications near to other national parks in the UK."

Management consultant Janice Southway, who lives in Carsington, was in court to hear the proceedings. She said: "There is a very strong feeling against the development."