MoD joins Lord Botham in objection to 200m-high wind turbines in North Yorkshire countryside because of ‘unacceptable interference’ with RAF base

DAILYMAIL.COM • 2m ago

By GLEN KEOGH, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT 18:01 08 Oct 2026, updated 18:18 08 Oct 2026

The Ministry of Defence has objected to plans to install 200m-high wind turbines in a North Yorkshire beauty spot over fears they would cause major disruption to RAF operations.

Proposals for Hope Moor Wind Farm, which will straddle picturesque areas of County Durham and the Yorkshire Dales popular with walkers, include 23 wind turbines reaching 200 metres above ground level.

Such is the size of the proposed development, it has been deemed a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project [NSIP], meaning it can ultimately be approved by energy secretary Ed Miliband, foregoing the usual planning process.

However Mr Miliband’s Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero [DESNZ] is now in a stand-off with the MoD after concerns about the project were raised by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, which maintains the military estate on behalf of the government.

In a letter, seen by the Mail, the MoD said the wind farm development could cause ‘unacceptable interference’ with radar at RAF Leeming, 30km away.

The turbines could also cause unacceptable interference to an air defence radar 108km away at Brizzlee Wood, Northumberland, designed to protect the country.

The MoD also raised concerns that, owing to their height, the turbines could pose a risk to RAF aircraft, which fly as low as 76m above the ground during low-level training.

Last night former England cricketer and crossbench peer Lord Botham, who lives close to the proposed development and has been campaigning against it, said the Labour government is ‘like a cricket team where half the players are trying to knock down their own stumps.’

‘With Russia and Iran testing our defences, this is no time to make life difficult for RAF pilots protecting our skies,’ he said.

‘They need radar that works and don’t need 200 metre wind turbines filling their windscreens.

‘Imagine being an RAF pilot flying through these hills at 500mph, knowing that the could-not-care-less green zealots of Whitehall have made it into a giant obstacle course.

‘If Putin was writing Britain’s energy policy, he would struggle to do more damage than the eco-crazies planning to carpet the countryside with these huge wind turbines.’

He added: ‘People in London would never tolerate these enormous 200 metre contraptions in their favourite parks.

‘Yet they expect us northerners to passively watch while our magnificent moors are turned into industrial estates.’

Fred Olsen Renewables, the company behind the Hope Moor development, says the scheme could generate enough renewable electricity to power about 135,000 homes while helping meet climate targets.

The company said the area had been chosen because it ‘benefits from favourable wind conditions, enabling efficient generation of clean electricity.’

However Conservative councillor Angus Thompson, of North Yorkshire Council, said: ‘The MoD’s stark warning is the nail in the coffin for this scheme.

‘The desecration of the landscape and the expense of the electricity were already huge concerns.

‘Now we learn that the MoD considers that these monster turbines threaten national security and the lives of pilots.

‘This hopeless project should be abandoned without delay.’

A spokesman for DESNZ said: ‘We work closely with the Ministry of Defence.

‘All onshore wind projects are subject to a rigorous planning process in which defence and security, the views of the local community and impacts on the environment are considered.’

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