Proposed wind farm on moorland between Haworth and Hebden Bridge
Please find below, a Settle Town Council statement regarding the proposed wind farm.
Published: 7 July 2026
Settle Town Council has recently become aware of a planning application for a proposed wind farm on the moorland between Haworth and Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, which we understand is currently being validated by the Planning Inspectorate.
Concerns have been raised with the Town Council regarding the applicant’s proposed construction logistics. It has recently been reported that approximately 600,000 tonnes of granite could be transported by rail from Shap Quarry to Horton-in-Ribblesdale, where it would be transferred onto heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), which would travel through Settle and Giggleswick. This was from a line in a consultant report looking at all possible options for receiving granite to the proposed site.
However the Town Council understands that the existing planning permission for Horton Quarry, granted by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, does not permit the importation of aggregate or stone by either road or rail. Furthermore, the permission places limits on the quantity of material that may be exported from the site by road each day.
In addition, the existing rail siding serving Horton Quarry is limited in size, only has capacity for the trains taking stone out, and is not set up with plant or storage for unloading. It is further understood that the Settle–Carlisle railway currently has little or no spare capacity to accommodate the additional train movements that would be required.
Taking these planning and operational constraints together, the Town Council believes that the transport strategy proposed in the documentation, insofar as it relies upon Horton Quarry as the transfer point, is neither permitted under the existing planning consent nor operationally achievable. Consequently, the Council therefore considers that the rumoured volume of HGV movements through Settle associated with this proposal is highly unlikely to arise. However, Settle Town Council has sought further clarification, and it will continue to monitor the proposal and revisit this if it does become a concern in future.
Settle Town Council
07/07/2026