PLANS to build a wind farm at Sillfield would make the lives of nearby residents ‘totally unbearable’, a public inquiry has heard.

Whirlwind Renewables proposes to build three 110-metre high turbines near Gatebeck - the nearest of which would be just 670m from the home of Nighean Mann, of Brooklands, Gatebeck.

“It will change the quality of life, which me and my husband have worked for all our lives,” she said.

“The turbines will dominate all aspects of life within our home. We will not be able to get away from them.”

Mrs Mann claimed she had suffered ‘countless sleepless nights’ worrying about the proposals, adding: “What my life will be like if the turbines are built I dread to think.”

Speaking on behalf of the Countryside Protection Consortium of South Lakes (CPCSL), Barbara McQua-rrie, who would live less than 700 metres from the nearest turbine, admitted to being a ‘Nimby’ but said that the sheer scale and nuisance of the wind farm was totally different from just about any other sort of development.

Addressing planning inspector Robin Brooks, she said: “I really hope you can agree that a massive development like this so close to people’s homes is not a reasonable thing to ask.

"It will have a devastating effect on our lives.”

The proposed site is just two kilometres from the controversial Armistead scheme near Old Hutton, which was given the go-ahead following a public inquiry earlier this year.

Gerry Mellor, a senior landscape architect speaking on behalf of SLDC, said that although the Armistead decision is being challenged in the High Court, the Sillfield site needed to be considered alongside the other scheme.

Mr Mellor said that from close range the developments would be ‘inappropriate’ and would have a ‘significant negative impact’ on the area.