Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) South Yorkshire
protecting the countryside - for the nation, for the future

Crow Edge Wind Farm

In the summer 2006 newsletter we informed members of plans by Banks Developments to construct three wind turbines south of Hazlehead Pipeworks, operated by Hepworth Building Products Ltd, at Crow Edge. In September these plans were submitted to Barnsley MBC.

The turbines will be over 100m in height, from their base to the tip of their blades and will be visible for a considerable distance within the local area and the neighbouring National Park.

Due to the size of these turbines it will be very difficult to mitigate their impact on the landscape, therefore the type of landscape is the most important consideration. For example the turbines' adverse impacts would be greater in environments that are unmanaged and wild, such as moorland or mudflats. In landscapes that are clearly controlled by human activity, such as urban or intensively farmed areas, they do not appear as alien.

The site is located within an Area of High Landscape Value within planning policy and Ingbirchworth Upland Farmland in Barnsley’s Landscape Character Assessment. These designations will be an important factor in the determination of this application.

There is a clear balance when assessing the environment benefits of such developments between the adverse impact on the landscape and the reduction in energy generated through the burning of fossil fuels. We are currently assessing the application on this basis.

Picture top left: view of Crow Edge Wind Turbine proposal