Introduction

The Kelda planning application, being for 7 turbines, is now under consideration by Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) and there remains just a short time left for the public to raise their objections; please visit the 'How to Object' page for simple instructions on how to do this. The comments and observations on this page relate purely to this application and not the further submitted application for another 4 turbines by Tapar or the future Kelda application for 17 turbines.

Kelda’s planning application consists of 174 documents and over 1,100 pages making it impossible to relate the full details on this website. It follows that this website can only give a brief broad overview of the potential impact using extracts from the application documents prepared and submitted by Kelda’s consultants, Arcus Renewable Energy Consultants Ltd.

Highlights

• The turbines will be visible, and in many cases dominantly so, from a fair proportion of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
• They will impact to varying degrees on a number of heritage sites, scheduled monuments and listed gardens, including Ripley Castle, Harewood House, John O’Gaunts Castle, the Fountains Abbey/Studley Royal World Heritage Site, plus its adjacent How Hill
• Within 535m of residential properties and just 619m from High Moor Holiday Park   

Potential Impact of Visibility

The documents included ‘Zones of Theoretical Visibility’ where the 7 turbines could well be visible from; this does not take into account obstructions caused by buildings and clumps of mature trees in leaf.  This would indicate that the turbines could be seen from as far distant as:

• South of Leeds, Bradford and Goole
• West of Skipton
• North of Masham
• East of York, Easingwold, Thirsk, Northallerton, Ripon
• Parts of both the Dales and Moors National Parks
• The moors above Lofthouse and Middlesmoor, and between Lofthouse and Grewelthorpe
• Ilkley Moor

For vast areas, between the wind farm and some of the above locations it is difficult to identify where the wind farm will not be seen from.