Press release from ‘Stronger together to stop Calderdale Wind Farm’:
PARLIAMENTARY PETITION LAUNCHED TODAY CALLS FOR A BAN ON BUILDING WIND FARMS ON PROTECTED PEATLAND
Today sees the launch of a petition that calls on Parliament to amend onshore wind planning regulations by banning wind farms on protected peatland in England.
100,000 signatures will secure an MPs’ debate – which needs to take place before the end of the year, when the government is to publish its reformed National Planning Policy Framework. So, time is short, and the matter is nationally important, say West Yorkshire campaign group Stronger Together to Stop Calderdale Wind Farm.
The petition can be signed here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/701290
The government itself has suggested a ban on wind farms on peatland. Its recent public consultation on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework noted “Some habitats, such as those containing peat soils, might be considered unsuitable for renewable energy development due to their role in carbon sequestration.” and asked if there should be additional protections for such habitats.
However, campaigner Lydia Macpherson warns, “It’s not a foregone conclusion that the government will carry out this important, climate- and nature-friendly planning reform. There are pressures to accelerate the development of big onshore wind farms, without any informed consideration of the resulting climate and nature/biodiversity damage from building infrastructure on peat.”
The West Yorkshire campaign group hope the government will listen to the positive consultation responses about protecting peatland from wind farm development. These include Wild Justice, (“we cannot see any circumstance in which significant renewable or low carbon energy developments should be permitted on habitats containing peat soils”), the Town and Country Planning Association, the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Landscape Institute and CPRE the Countryside Charity.
For over a year, Stronger Together to Stop Calderdale Wind Farm has been resisting a proposal for what would be England’s largest onshore wind farm, across nine square miles of the South Pennines Site of Special Scientific Interest, also designated as a Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. Walshaw Moor is mainly blanket bog: a priority protected habitat that supports peat-forming plants, many red-listed bird species and other wildlife. It is also a natural form of carbon capture and storage that outperforms tropical rainforest and mitigates flood risk in local towns.
Calderdale Wind Farm developers have described the proposal as a ‘test case’ for new onshore wind planning regulations. If their application were to be approved, all protected peatland across England will be at risk.
“We recognise that more onshore wind farms are needed – and there are plenty of suitable non- peatland sites for them,” says campaigner Penny Price. “Friends of the Earth and Exeter University have mapped sufficient locations for onshore wind in England that exclude protected peatland and can still produce 13 times more green energy than England produces at present. A new RSPB study also shows that there’s plenty of land to construct the amount of solar and onshore wind that the Climate Change Committee says is needed, even after ruling out protected sites and sensitive areas for birds.”
Fellow campaigner Jenny Shepherd says, “Calderdale Wind Farm could well destroy the blanket bog that’s taken thousands of years to form, drying it out across the whole site. This would emit stored carbon and prevent the capture of carbon dioxide by newly formed peat.
“Peat scientists say by 2040 most windfarms on peat won’t contribute to carbon emissions reductions, even with careful management of the peat,” she continues. “As the Grid gets greener, wind farms on peat would not help the country to reach net zero. Instead, they would be displacing greener electricity from wind farms on non-peat soils. We’re encouraged that in a key House of Commons Clean Energy debate in July, Ed Miliband said that it’s important to get the balance right between nature preservation and clean energy. When the government publishes its National Land Use Framework and its Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, it could be a great opportunity to make sure this happens. This is why our petition draws attention to strong evidence that wind farms on peat would undermine the green energy transition.”
ENDS
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