Stronger Together to Stop Calderdale Windfarm was formed in 2024 as a coalition group to bring South Pennines-based campaigners together to prevent the construction of a huge wind farm on Walshaw Moor between Top Withens (aka Wuthering Heights), Pecket Well and Widdop. The developers have now changed the name of the wind farm to Calderdale Energy Park

Wind farms are an important and necessary part of the transition to green energy. But they must be in the right place, and highly protected, carbon storing peatland is NOT the right place.

There’s an excellent study by Exeter University and Friends of the Earth which identifies potential wind farm sites which are not on protected peatland.

First of all, it’s not a park and it’s not a farm. It’s a massive industrial complex which will destroy one of the country’s most protected moors. The site on Walshaw Moor is 2352ha/9 square miles of peatland, blanket bog and acid grassland.

Even after so-called public consultations from the developers, Calderdale Energy Park (CEP) we can only offer educated guesses for some of what follows.

At the moment – and we can’t be certain this is what the planning application will end up with – CEP are proposing to put 41 turbines, each 200m high and with a rotor diameter of about 170m on Walshaw Moor.

CEP have now issued their new Scoping Report – the next stage in the planning process – which you can read here: SCOPING REPORT
Stronger Together are formulating their response to this and will post it here before the deadline of 29 September.

All these turbines will be lit at night.

There will be at least one Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) capable of storing at least 100MW hours and an electricity sub-station.

There will be aggregate-surfaced tracks snaking across the moor to each turbine. These will be at least 6m wide and will have ditches on either side. Cable trenches will connect each turbine to the substation. Each of the 41 turbines will have a massive concrete foundation and a concrete crane pad.

The entrance to the site will either be off the A6033 Oxenhope-Hebden Bridge road, or off Lancashire Moor Road/Two Laws Road between Laneshawbridge and Watersheddles reservoir.

Introduction by Worth Valley Against Calderdale Windfarm

This video envisions the site from the Pack Horse Inn at Hebden Bridge

Click the map image to expand it

ZONE OF THEORETICAL VISIBILITY. This is what the developer supplied in their scoping report as of September 2023. There will now be 41 turbines rather than 65 but this gives an idea of how far away the wind farm will be visible from.