The Sentinel commented Dave Proudlove: We don't want a wind turbine at Knypersley Pool

Comments(2)

KEATS wrote, 'a thing of beauty is a joy forever' and that opening line to his 1818 poem Endymion for some reason always make me think about Knypersley Pool.

Knypersley Pool and I go back a long way. Happy hours spent there with my late grandfather. Finishing 14th in a fun run as a member of the 59th Newchapel Boy Scouts. Days fishing without catching a thing. But who cares when the surroundings are so beautiful? Although I haven't paid her a visit for some time, Knypersley Pool has a special place in my heart.

Knypersley Pool and Greenway Bank Country Park are havens for wildlife, a place for Potteries people to escape to, and are among Staffordshire's greatest beauty spots. But right now we face the terrible spectre of a 50m high wind turbine being placed in a nearby field to tower over it all.

It is the largest turbine proposed yet in the Staffordshire Moorlands, and it is claimed it will be visible from as far away as Mow Cop.

I am not opposed to wind turbines and green energy. Such developments are necessary, inevitable and should be encouraged. There is a place for wind turbines. But at Greenway Bank?

I understand that the effectiveness of a wind turbine is predicated on wind speeds, and so the siting of them is vitally important. Therefore I understand the reasoning behind targeting certain parts of North Staffordshire. It can get windy up here! However, many other factors need to be taken into account when planning for a structure as large as that proposed, and one of those must be the appropriateness of its setting. Greenway Bank is far from an appropriate setting. The proposed site is located within the greenbelt and in a Special Landscape Area, along the head of the Trent.

There is a train of thought from some quarters, that the north is desolate, and this is shaping parliamentary debate around fracking. The proposed wind turbine at Greenway Bank clearly fits within this particular mindset.

Although Knypersley Pool is indeed a thing of beauty, there is an inherent contradiction at its heart in that the pool is manmade, having been built in 1827 by Thomas Telford and James Potter to supply water to the Caldon Canal. Yet this impressive feat of civil engineering has left behind a wonderful legacy. When talking about his aims and aspirations for the village of Portmeirion, its architect Clough Williams-Ellis said he wanted to demonstrate, "that one could develop even a very beautiful site without defiling it, and given sufficient loving care one could even improve on what God had provided". Telford and Potter clearly had the same thoughts when creating Knypersley Pool.

Would a wind turbine add anything positive to this beautiful part of North Staffordshire? The answer has to be a resounding 'no'. There is no environmental and social case, and even though the proposal is being pushed forward by a commercial company, I would also argue there is no economic case either.

Read more:
The Sentinel commented Dave Proudlove: We don't want a wind turbine at Knypersley Pool