Image of CPRE South Yorkshire Website Banner for layout purposes only

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

Image of Thorne Moors Nature Reserve - for illustrative purposes only

Save Thorne Moors

The Thorne and Hatfield Moors are the largest and most important lowland raised bog in the country, and have been described as Britain’s equivalent of the Amazonian rainforest.

More than 5,000 species of plants and animals, including some of Britain’s rarest and most endangered species and over 4,800 species of insects alone, live on the Thorne Moors. Nearly 200 species of birds have been recorded here and 75 species use the area for nesting, including up to 50 pairs of the nationally-rare nightjar. This makes it a breeding site of international importance for this strange, nocturnal, hawk-like insect-feeder. Summer visitors include the dashing marsh harrier and the smaller hobby, which feeds on smaller birds and dragonflies, which are often taken acrobatically in mid-flight. Over-wintering birds include the wraith-like hen harrier, the kestrel-sized merlin and the short-eared owl.

The Thorne and Hatfield Moors were created a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1970, and later became part of the Humberhead Peatlands National Nature Reserve together with parts of Crowle and Goole Moors after a £17 million cash buy-out by English Nature had saved them for the nation.

The commercial extraction of peat, which destroyed the original, ancient moorland wastes of Thorne and Hatfield Chase (once the largest unenclosed royal deer park in the country) started in 1848. Later the British Moss Litter Company extracted peat commercially, initially for animal bedding and later to be sold as garden compost. Peat extraction became fully mechanised in 1963 when Fisons acquired the company and embarked on large-scale drainage and excavation by huge machines including the use of ‘surface milling’, which stripped the surface clear of vegetation before gradually ripping off layers of peat.

A long campaign by conservationists led by William Bunting of Thorne, involving direct action by his band of ‘Bunting’s Beavers’, finally received the backing of the Government, and eventually led to the eventual cessation of commercial peat digging in 2004.

Save Thorne Moors Again!

After Thorne Moors was saved for the nation by a £19 million cash buy-out by English Nature, the recent proposal by E-ON UK Renewables to build 22 wind turbines, each 125m (nearly 400 feet!) to blade tip was an affront to conservationists and locals alike. After all this was England’s rarest habitat, enshrined in such an enormous nature reserve that it comprised a landscape in its own right. Seen from the centre of Thorne Moors, the turbines will be a major presence on the southern skyline – radically changing the sense of isolation and vastness. So we are now running another Save Thorne Moors campaign!

CPRE South Yorkshire immediately objected to the application, principally on the grounds of the impact on the setting of Thorne Moors. In February, we defended this view at a major public inquiry set up to examine the Tween Bridge proposals and plans for another wind farm nearby at Keadby in North Lincolnshire. We contend that there are other, more suitable sites within Yorkshire and the Humber that can contribute to meeting renewable energy targets set by Government for the region, without sacrificing our rarest landscapes. The second stage of this long-running public inquiry has recently begun and will continue throughout the summer.

Dismay at Thorne Moors wind farm approval

At the end of February, CPRE South Yorskhire received the long awaited decision on a major wind farm (‘Tween Bridge’) proposed next to Thorne Moors on the Humberhead Levels. To our dismay, and that of all the local groups opposing the development, the Secretary of State gave permission for 22 massive turbines at the Tween Bridge site and 34 more at Keadby, nearby in North Lincolnshire. We opposed Tween Bridge on grounds of major impact on landscape and tranquillity.

Natural England and the RSPB also opposed the application mainly because of potential impacts on nightjar, a rare bird species protected on the European nature conservation site a few 100m away. The local authority, Doncaster MBC, opposed Tween Bridge for a mixed bag of reasons: landscape impact, coal sterilisation and the impact on future airport development at the nearby Robin Hood airport.

We gave evidence to the inquiry over two days, including CPRE’s own tranquillity maps. Our evidence held up well under cross-examination and we convinced the Inspector, Keith Smith, to conclude that the Moors do indeed have qualities of tranquillity, wildness and apartness. Unfortunately Mr Smith also concluded that “the effect [of the turbines] would not be so adverse as to justify withholding consent” and that “the adverse impacts would be outweighed by the benefits of the proposal in terms of addressing climate change and the long term landscape degradation arising from the effects thereof”. The Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks – unsurprisingly – concurred with his views.

This is incredibly disappointing for all the people who love the peace and quiet of Thorne Moor’s unique landscape said Andy Tickle, Head of Planning at CPRE South Yorkshire and who gave CPRE’s evidence at the inquiry, Many local and national environmental groups fought for twenty years to save the Moors from destruction by peat extraction, with the Government finally stepping in to buy the site for £20 million. So it’s very sad to now see a Government decision ruin the setting of this unique lowland peatbog.

Picture top left: Thorne Moors Nature Reserve

Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Peak District & South Yorkshire has been caring for the countryside in the Peak District & South Yorkshire area for over 80 years and runs CPRE, South Yorkshire and Friends of the Peak District. The Campaign to Protect Rural England, PDSY is an independent charity and exists to promote the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England by encouraging the sustainable use of land and other natural resources in town and country.

The CPRE, Peak District & South Yorkshire is not responsible for the content, services or reliability of links to external websites.
Note: Links to external websites generally open in new windows.

Membership open to all. Help our work by donating or volunteering.
Reg Company No. 4496754 | Reg Charity No. 1094975