OPPONENTS to a wind farm at Sillfield have heaved a huge sigh of relief after the plans were rejected.

Whirlwind Renewables’ proposals for three 110-metre high turbines near Gatebeck were turned down by the planning inspectorate following a public inquiry last October.

Had the plans been given the go-ahead, Nighean Mann, of Brooklands, Gatebeck, would have lived just 670m from the nearest turbine.

“We’re absolutely over the moon,” said Mrs Mann. “We heaved a huge sigh of relief.

“I’m still very much in favour for renewable energy but it must be in the correct place and the Kendal Low Fells are not the correct place.”

Mrs Mann said she had suffered ‘countless sleepless nights’ worrying about the plans and had worked an ‘enormous number of hours’ working with other opposers to draw up arguments against the scheme.

“Hopefully our lives can get back to normal again now,” she said.

In his report, planning inspector Robin Brooks stated that the turbines would ‘markedly detract from enjoyment’ of Brooklands and its open space.

He also said that the adverse cumulative impact with the Armistead scheme would be ‘severe’.

The six 100-metre high turbines at Old Hutton, just 2km from the Sillfield site, were approved by the planning inspectorate last year, although an appeal has been lodged in the High Court.

The Countryside Protection Consortium: South Lakes (CPCSL), which was formed two years ago to participate in public inquiries into wind farms, said the planning inspector’s conclusions into the Sillfield plans vindicated the consortium’s belief that ‘this type of industrial development has no place in the Kendal Low Fells or for that matter in the intimate drumlin landscape south east of Kendal.’ Speaking on behalf of CPCSL, chairman Rob McQuarrie said: “This was the right decision not only for Sillfield but for South Lakeland as a whole.

"The inspector’s conclusions will help future decision makers and give hope to everyone who finds themselves in the position of having to defend their treasured local landscapes from this type of industrial pollution.”

Prospective Conservative MP Gareth McKeever and Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron both welcomed the decision.