This is our story, but if this development happened here, it really could happen on any windy, protected peatland in England ....

Stronger Together to Stop Calderdale Wind Farm is a West Yorkshire based group working to save and ensure the restoration of the internationally protected Walshaw Moor peatland. 

Lying between Hebden Bridge and Top Withins - the likely inspiration for the location of Wuthering Heights in Emily Brontë's novel - nine square miles of the Moor are threatened by a speculative proposal for a windfarm on a scale usually only built offshore.

We support windfarms but we can't support one here because of the environmental and climate damage it would cause.  

A windfarm on Walshaw Moor would:

• wreck the peatland's natural carbon capture process. Peat grows at a rate of 1mm per year. Some of the peat on the Moor has been growing since the Bronze Age. Restoration would take too long to help mitigate the climate crisis or contribute to nature recovery.
• risk increased flooding in the Calder Valley, and damage water quality.
• ruin the fragile and highly protected biodiversity of the Moor which includes RSPB red-listed birds such as curlew and internationally recognised breeding numbers of golden plovers, merlin and short-eared owls which depend on its irreplaceable peatland habitat.
• change forever the iconic cultural landscape which inspired the Brontës, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Kate Bush and many more people. 

The planning process

In response to the first stage of the planning process, which the developer, Calderdale Windfarm Ltd (despite its name, funded by an international investment consortium)  started in September 2023, the Environment Agency stated 'we believe this is the wrong site, and there are other more suitable ones which will not damage irreplaceable habitats and internationally important sites'. Calderdale Planning Authority required that the planning application must be subject to a stringent 'Appropriate Assessment' to show that there is no reasonable scientific doubt that the wind farm would not damage Walshaw Moor - BUT the developer has backtracked and intends to submit a revised proposal for the new fast track planning application process announced by the government which would  bypass local planning authorities.  Parliament is now debating a Bill for that purpose which would dismantle the key 'Appropriate Assessment' protection for designated sites such as Walshaw Moor.

We are petitioning Parliament to ban wind farms on protected peatland in England.  THERE IS NO NEED FOR WIND FARMS ON PROTECTED PEATLAND IN ENGLAND: an RSPB study last year found that there is plenty of land in England for all the wind farms the government needs, even when protected peatland and other ecologically valuable sites are excluded.

We need funds to take the campaign forward by: 

• holding an MPs' information event in the House of Commons 
• printing leaflets, posters and banners
• running information stalls to gain public support for the campaign's goals
• holding public meetings
• taking legal advice on the government's Planning and Infrastructure Bill, especially its 'nature recovery' measures to fast track big onshore wind farms by removing key environmental protections for sites like Walshaw Moor
• continuing to engage with the developer's PR company about early public involvement in environmental decisions, which is guaranteed by the Aarhus Convention
• participating in the developer's pre-planning application consultation which is expected imminently
• mobilising the public, councillors, MPs, Ministers and influencers to gain their support for our goals.

Our campaign is supported by Wild Justice, the environmental campaign group led by Chris Packham, Mark Avery and Ruth Tingay. Read campaign supporter Nick MacKinnnon's blog in which he aims to walk to each of the 65 proposed turbine sites on Walshaw Moor with his Airedale terrier, Teddy, on Mark Avery's website.

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