Council not behind wind farm plan

The United Utilities plans were for seven wind turbines at Saddleworth

Planning permission for a wind farm at a Greater Manchester beauty spot looks set to be refused.

Environmentalist David Bellamy is among those who have joined the protest against the turbines at Saddleworth Moor above Oldham.

A report by Oldham Council officers to the town's councillors urges them to turn the United Utilities plans down.

Head of planning services Geoff Willerton said the cost to the environment outweighed the benefits.

Campaigners, including the Saddleworth Moors Action Group, had said that the proposals would ruin the visual impact of the moorland in Greater Manchester.

The area was host to what was billed as the first national anti-wind turbine conference last April.

'Extremely complicated'

The planning committee will make a decision on the plans next Thursday, but will be guided by Mr Willerton's report.

He said: "This has been an extremely complicated application that has generated a significant amount of comment for and against the proposal.

"The [refusal] recommendation comes after a tremendous amount of detailed work, and looks to balance the issue of damage to the overall appearance of the area and the contribution to be made to the production of clean energy from a renewable source.

"It was decided that the harm to the environment resulting from the number, scale and location of the wind turbines outweighed this contribution and so we were unable to support the application."