21st century farming versus 20th century attitudes

As a young couple, both from farming families in the Staffordshire Moorlands, we were keen to put our own stamp on our new farming enterprise. We purchased land that had been intensively farmed, and our aim is to lovingly restore it and farm with the latest 21^st century technology. But will our local councillors lack of commitment to renewable technology stop us before we’ve started?

We purchased 34 acres of land just over the border in Derbyshire 18 months ago. Since this date we have worked hard to build up our livestock including Highland cattle and Hebridean sheep which we graze on the Peak District National Park for the summer season. This is proving to have great environmental benefits to the moors and we have been requested to work with other organisations in the area.

We live on site in a small log cabin with a spring water supply. The problem is, we run off a noisy diesel generator.

Given the support from the Government for renewable energy and being aware of their strict targets, we were confident the local authority would work with us in order to create a sustainable solution to our energy needs. Our land is on top of a hill and has a fantastic wind resource, therefore it was decided that wind was the answer.

We liaised with the local authority from the beginning and submitted an application for a 25m to hub Endurance wind turbine. In doing so, we had to provide full environmental reports for noise, ecology and landscape studies. The local authority decided that our application was too big for the area (even though 3 x 102m turbines will be erected 3 miles away) and recommended refusal.

We lost our application by one vote at the Derbyshire Dales District Council Committee meeting. Supporting councillors suggested those against the application were being “precious”, “making any excuse not to support renewable energy” and “talking, not acting green”. One councillor even stated “the only place for wind is offshore”. We try not to rant about this but hope others can learn, and we can push for change as we continue to contact national policy makers.

Perhaps we were naive when we thought starting a new farm and using the efficient renewable technologies available to us would just be common sense in the 21^st Century? For now, we continue to fight this cause to appeal and hope this is decided to allow us to progress our eco tourism aspirations.

Catherine Webster and Craig Barks, Derbyshire Dales. You can contact Catherine on: Catherine@muddybootsforbusiness.co.uk

Have you experienced similar frustrations? Do you have any advice for Catherine and Craig about successful on farm renewable technology applications? Why not write a comment or get in touch?

You may also find our wind fact sheet and video case study useful.