A parish council is calling on Energy Minister Ed Miliband to question the suitability of a moorland site to build a controversial giant wind farm.

The call, from Wadsworth Parish Council – which covers Walshaw Moor, where Calderdale Energy Park (CEP) plans to put 34 giant wind turbines – follows a CEP meeting which considered construction traffic impacts councillors have dubbed “confusing”.

Among issues, it considered the impact of construction traffic on towns and villages in North Yorkshire and Lancashire, including aggregate used for turbine foundations which will need to be transported to the site, as well as other elements.

These were included in CEP’s preliminary environmental information report (PEIR), also included in a recent consultation process, but Wadsworth councillors say there are inconsistencies about exactly where this would be coming from.

Great Edge above Widdop Reservoir, one of the moorland areas which could be affected by the turbine plan. Picture: Save Walshaw Moor campaign group.

placeholder image — Great Edge above Widdop Reservoir, one of the moorland areas which could be affected by the turbine plan. Picture: Save Walshaw Moor campaign group.

For example, says the council, some types aggregate, for example limestone, would not be usable on peatland – with potential peatland damage being a major consideration for objectors to the proposals.

Chair of the Calderdale Energy Park Parish Forum, Wadsworth Parish Council’s Coun Jon Kimber, said since the meeting Wadsworth councillors had received information about potential sources of suitable material but needed clarity.

And if long distances were being talked about, this brought into question the site’s suitability at all, he said.

Coun Kimber said Wadsworth Parish Council is now asking Calderdale Energy Park to clarify what quarries, and what stone, is being talked about.

“Because without this information, there is no clarity about transport routes and traffic issues for communities,” he said.

“We are also asking the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero how Calderdale Energy Park can justify its selection of Walshaw Moor as a site for its proposed wind farm when it lacks the local environmental capacity to enable its development – in terms of the required aggregate for construction.

“The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero requires that energy infrastructure is deployed in areas with the local environmental capacity to enable those developments.

“But Walshaw Moor lacks suitable on-site aggregate for road surfaces and turbine and on-site substation foundations.”

Transport proposals for hundreds of thousands of tonnes of aggregate have alarmed North Yorkshire and Lancashire councillors, as well as concerning those in West Yorkshire.

But, referring to the statutory consultation figures – showing delivering the aggregate could result in 74 return lorry trips for 16 months between North Yorkshire and the site a day – CEP told media that the figures in the consultation report were a worst case scenario.

While the PEIR outlines potential options for the sourcing and delivery of materials to the site, at this time no decisions have yet been made regarding the transportation of stone to Walshaw Moor, with several quarries available to supply construction materials on site, they said.

“Different transport options are being explored, including the use of rail, but at this stage no routes have been confirmed, and no agreements have been made with any potential suppliers,” they said.

Calderdale Energy Park would be the largest wind farm in England, made up of 34 turbines 656ft (200m) tall providing electricity for around 200,000 homes.

The proposals have met with strong resistance from campaigners concerned about potential damage to peatland and loss of moorland habitat which is home to birds.