Group opposes Bronte moors turbines

Campaigners against a plan to build giant wind turbines on moors associated with the Bronte sisters are making a final attempt to convince councillors and planners to ditch the proposal.

People living close to Thornton Moor, west of Bradford, are hoping to stop the development in its tracks at a meeting next week.

The moor is a couple of miles from the famous parsonage at Haworth where the Bronte sisters and their family lived, and which is now preserved as a museum.

Experts say their work - including Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights - was heavily influenced by the moorland landscape of the area. The Bronte Way footpath also runs straight across Thornton Moor.

Developers want to build four turbines next to the route of the footpath.

Councillors are due to meet on Wednesday to decide whether to allow the first stage of the plan - a 200ft high wind monitoring mast.

Anthea Orchard, who lives in nearby Denholm Gate and chairs the Thornton Moor Windfarm Action Group, said the Bronte connection is only part of their objection.

The developer of the turbines, Banks Renewables, says the test mast would have minimal visual impact as it was so slender.

It says if planning permission is granted, the turbines would provide enough electricity for 4,400 homes per year.

It also plans a community benefit fund of up to £10,000 a year.