Calderdale Inside Out

In this episode of Calderdale Inside Out we talk peat, flooding, and explore an alternative solution for windfarm development.

Walshaw Moor isn’t just any landscape. It’s part sponge, part carbon vault, part natural defence system. And it’s the proposed site of England’s largest onshore wind farm.

“If you destroy that Sphagnum carpet, you are left with bare peat. There’s nothing to stop the water just flowing straight off.”— Mr Richard Lindsay

In this wide-ranging interview, Mr Lindsay — one of the world’s leading peatland ecologists — lays out the risks of building turbines on deep peat. And it’s not just about the carbon loss (although that’s a big one). It’s about what happens downhill.

From bog slides in Ireland to long-term shrinkage and cracking, he explains why disturbing peat doesn’t just harm the land — it may increase flood risk for communities in the Calder Valley.

Richard Lindsay’s conclusion? This isn't just a bad idea. It’s a long-term gamble.

We also touch on the economics. The bit the wind industry doesn’t always advertise.

Build turbines in windy places.Plug them into a grid that can’t take the power.Then get paid to switch them off.

That’s called a constraint payment — and last year, the UK taxpayers spent close to £2 billion making them.

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COMING SOON

We step behind the scenes of one of Calderdale’s most controversial parking schemes, and examine a cache of internal emails.

In late 2024, Calderdale Council said it was listening.

A consultation was held. The public responded — overwhelmingly against the proposed removal of parking on a stretch of road just outside Hebden Bridge. Then something strange happened.

The results weren’t shared.A public meeting cancelled.And council officers stopped replying to residents.

Internal emails obtained through Freedom of Information reveal:

* A council officer saying she was instructed not to engage with the public

* A councillor describing a public meeting as a “shouting shop”

* An internal document justifying a cycle lane with no local evidence

And yet, the plan rolled on.

This isn’t just a story about parking. It’s a story about how decisions get made — and how consultation can appear to become a performance.

Coming soon: The Fallingroyd Files — where we explore the intersection of local democracy, political influence, and public trust.

We begin with a stretch of road in Hebden Bridge. But the questions raised go much further.

“We’re building windfarms to stop carbon emissions — by disturbing our best carbon store. It’s Kafkaesque.”— Dr Richard Lindsay

A Saudi-backed consortium wants to build one of the largest onshore windfarms in England. The proposed site? Walshaw Moor — a vast, windswept peatland above Hebden Bridge.

On paper, it looks like progress. Clean energy. Thousands of homes powered. Carbon saved.

What if disturbing that bog not only destroys a rare habitat, but releases more ancient carbon into the atmosphere than the proposed development will save?

In the next episode of Calderdale Inside Out, I sit down with Dr Richard Lindsay, one of the world’s leading peatland experts, who has spent over four decades advising governments, the UN, and conservation agencies across the world.

His conclusion is blunt: building windfarms on deep peat may be undermining the very climate goals they’re supposed to serve.

In this conversation, we explore:

* What peat actually is — and why it's “the failed compost heap that saves the planet”

* How roads and drainage destabilise bogs for centuries

* The hidden risk of peat slides — including one in Ireland so big it led to EU court action

* How developers are being paid record amounts when turbines are switched off — even when it’s too windy to run them

* And could building a wind farm on Walshaw moor increase the Calder Valley flood risk

This isn’t just a niche environmental debate. It’s a larger question about how we do climate action — and whether we’re prepared to sacrifice one environmental asset in pursuit of another.

“Once the roads go in, they’re in forever,” Dr Lindsay warns. “You can remove the turbines. You can’t remove the damage.”

HOW TO LISTEN

This exclusive interview will be landing later this week.

The episode will be available only to subscribers of Calderdale Inside Out — and it’s free to subscribe.

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

If you care about the climate, about the uplands, or about how decisions are being made — this is a conversation worth hearing.

Calderdale Council planning committee is about to vote on one of the UK’s largest battery storage schemes — 462 lithium-ion containers planned for a site near homes, schools, and a listed hotel.

The catch?
There’s no confirmed fire safety plan.

West Yorkshire Fire Service say the water supply isn’t enough. Experts warn of toxic smoke, firefighting delays, and the risk of approving before it’s safe.

In this episode, we ask:
Why is fire safety being deferred?
What happens when the fire service has no legal right to stop a high-risk development?
And is this really how local planning should work?

With expert insight from fire safety consultant Arnold Tarling.

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