DEVASTATED South Lakeland residents fear that the approval of the Armistead wind farm could be the beginning of the industrialisation of the beautiful Cumbrian countryside.

Six 100-metre turbines near Old Hutton have been given the go-ahead by an independent planning inspector and now opposition groups are concerned that it will set a precedent for other proposals including Whirlwind Renewables’ plans to build three turbines at Sillfield, near Gatebeck - just 2km from Armistead.

“This could be the beginning of the industrialisation of this landscape,” said Rob McQuarrie, chair of Stop Turbines:Oppose Planning (STOP).

Stephen Hincliffe, chair of opposition group A Blot, feared the wind farms could affect tourism while a couple living on Gilsmere Farm - the nearest property to the Armistead site - said the plans will ‘destroy’ the area.

Rebecca Barnes, her husband Brian and their three children will live 600m from the nearest turbine.

“We’re devastated about it. The area will never be the same again,” she said.

In his report, inspector Martin Pike accepted that the quality of work on the farm would be diminished but claimed it was around the home where a ‘higher threshold of amenity should apply’.

He said that the view of the turbines from the house would be ‘shielded by a shelter belt’ of trees.

“It misses the point that we are hardly ever in the house,” said Mrs Barnes. “We’re farmers and most of our life is spent outside. We’ve worked really hard to have this farm and the beauty of the area. If that beauty is taken away there’s not much left because financially farming isn’t that good.

“It’s going to have a huge impact.”

Mr Pike believed that the landscape was ‘sufficiently robust’ and could assimilate the Armistead plans ‘without being dwarfed’.

The turbines, which could produce enough energy for up to 10,000 homes, would also contribute to the county’s target to generate 210MW of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2010, the report read.

South Lakeland District Council’s (SLDC) development control manager Andy Roe believed this had a ‘big influence’ on the Armistead result and would feature in the forthcoming Sillfield public inquiry in October.

However, SLDC planning officers recommended refusal of the three turbines and Mr Roe hoped the Armistead decision would strengthen the authority’s case.

“Now we meet the requirements of Cumbria’s Wind Energy Supplementary Planning Document, which identified the area around Old Hutton as having the potential for between three and five turbines in landscape terms.

“Having nine turbines would have a much greater impact on the landscape in a cumulative sense, which will feature strongly in the inspector’s considerations,” he said.

But Marianne Birkby, of Radiation Free Lakeland said that the decision was ‘brilliant’ and believed renewable energy was the way forward.

“To be producuing renewable energy should be the aim of South Lakeland,” she said.