Huge wind farm plans are 'environmental vandalism'

Campaigners fighting plans to build what could become England's largest onshore wind farm have described the proposals as "environmental vandalism".

Scout Moor Two, which would be built on Rooley Moor above Rochdale in Greater Manchester, would generate enough electricity to power 100,000 homes each year.

Renewable energy firm Cubico wants to build up to 18 turbines, each of which would be 590ft (180m) in height - significantly taller than Blackpool Tower, which stands at 519ft (158m).

Cubico spokesman Peter Rowe said: "The turbines are widely used across Europe and it's much more efficient for them to be taller."

The company expects to submit its plans to Rochdale Council and Rossendale Council in neighbouring Lancashire in the next few weeks.

Costing about £140m, Scout Moor Two would be built next to the Cotton Famine Road, which was built by local mill workers who opposed slavery during the American Civil War in the 1860s.

Cubico, which would sell electricity generated by Scout Moor Two to the National Grid at a fixed price, is hoping for planning approval to be granted in the summer of 2026.

The original Scout Moor wind farm was built in 2008, seven years before an effective ban on onshore wind farms was implemented by the Conservative government.

Those restrictions have been lifted as part of Labour's ambitions for less than 5% of the UK's electricity to come from fossil fuels by 2030.

Mr Rowe said: "It is a challenging target in terms of the scale of its ambition but it needs projects like Scout Moor to make it happen."

In 2024, renewable energy sources generated 56% of Great Britain's electricity.

Stuart Davies, from the Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum, said he was horrified by the plans.

"I used to walk these moors with my dad and used to go catching rabbits," said the 66-year-old. "The natural wilderness has been part of my life.

"To have those massive industrial turbines on these moors is just environmental vandalism. It's just going to ruin the place forever."

The turbines' construction would involve creating access roads across the moors.

Another member of the Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum, Steve Davison, said such tracks had become a magnet for off-road bikers at other wind farms.

The 63-year-old said: "There would be miles of extra tracks on the moors and the off-road biking went crazy when the original Scout Moor wind farm was built."

Cubico said it would "work with the community and the police to address illegal off-road biking. We can also use signage and fencing".

Fran Healey said she regularly goes jogging on the Cotton Famine Road.

"I live at the bottom of the hill and regularly run up to the top," said the 49-year-old.

"You can hear the skylarks singing and the curlews. It's just an open, peaceful, calm space.

"The thought of wind turbines here is quite upsetting. It'll change the landscape forever."

Cubico has pledged to help conserve the landscape.

A spokesperson said: "There's been a lot of damage to that peatland, so what we want to do is restore the flora and fauna with a significant moorland restoration scheme."

Construction of the turbines would take at least three years, with Cubico saying it could begin to generate renewable energy by 2030.

Currently the largest onshore wind farm in England is at Keadby in Lincolnshire, where there are 34 turbines.

The UK's largest wind farm, at Whitelee, near Glasgow, has 215.