PERHAPS to outsiders, the fate of Hope Moor, between Arkengarthdale and Teesdale, is a close run thing.
Britain desperately needs its own energy. It desperately needs its own green energy. The windy moor, which is miles from anywhere and so has few direct neighbours to impact, is therefore an obvious place to put 23 giant turbines which will generate enough power for 135,000 houses.
However, this windfarm would irrevocably alter one of the last great wildernesses in the country. There are so few places left which are truly free from man’s noise and smells and the sight of his activities.
Hope Moor is one, and yet here we could be about to put in more roads with more lorries and more massive infrastructure and more noise as the turbines slice through the air.
There must be other places – other rooftops for solar panels – that could be used first before we ruin this wilderness.
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At the weekend, Lord Ian Botham led a surprising number of people who want to draw attention to their opposition to this plan, for reasons which include the wildlife and ecology of the place and the visual impact it will have on a wide area which brings in the tourists because of its beauty.
There is also concern about what precedent allowing the windfarm would set: if Hope Moor can’t be saved how long before all the Pennines are covered with spinning towers?
Because the country does need green energy, we accept that this is a close run decision but, equally, we have yet to be convinced, because of the preciousness of this landscape, that it is the right thing to do.