Lake District tourist chiefs have come out emphatically against proposals to build a windfarm on the finges of the Lake District National Park saying it puts the classic landscape at risk.
The Lake District's classic mountain landscapes could be at risk
if a windfarm is given the go-ahead in the area warns the chairman of
Cumbria Tourist Board.
Broadcaster Eric Robson went on record yesterday saying that said
plans to site 27 giant turbines across seven kilometres of open
countryside in Cumbria could create a "dangerous precedent."
The application would see wind turbines - each higher than
St Paul's Cathedral - go up on a narrow strip of land at
Whinash, which stretches between the two national parks of the Lake
District and the neighbouring Yorkshire Dales. Although the turbines wouldn't actually be in the park, they would be visible from within it.
Mr Robson said: "Promoters of the Whinash wind farm have said that
it represents a pivotal planning application - we agree. If
this wind farm is allowed to go ahead in so sensitive an area it
would be open season in any other part of the uplands."
Formal Objection
A public inquiry into the controversial scheme is due to be held
in April and Cumbria Tourist Board, which has over 2,000 members, has
formally agreed to oppose the plans. The organisation stresses that
it's not against renewable energy in principle, but it felt that the
Whinash scheme, which would be visible from the M6 as visitors
approached the Lakes, could seriously harm tourism, which is the
area's largest industry.
'The view would be dominated by the constant movement of turbine
blades, and represent one of the biggest industrial developments in
Britain," continued Robson. ""Tourism is worth a billion pounds to
Cumbria every year and the very place where these turbines will be
built is the front door of the county's tourist industry."
A pre-inquiry meeting into the application will take place on
Monday, January 31, at the Shap Wells Hotel, Shap, Cumbria. See
www.persona.uk.com/whinash
Also objecting to the application are Eden District Council,
Cumbria County Council,South Lakeland District Council, the
Lake District National Park Authority, and the Yorkshire Dales
National Park Authority.
For a summary of local objections to Whinash and more
details on the scheme, see No
Whinash Windfarm.
