'I used to read loads of Brontë because that was the world I was from'

The Telegraph and Argus reports that the plans to build a giant windfarm on the moors at the heart of Brontë country have contrived to unite politicians from across the political divide against it.

They all have their different reasons, but their responses, including some officially submitted to the statutory consultation organised by Calderdale Energy Park, are clear in their opposition to the proposals.

Calderdale Energy Park plans to put 34 giant wind turbines on Walshaw Moor, which is located between Hebden Bridge and Haworth, the village associated with the Bronte sisters. [...]

Keighley and Ilkley Conservative MP Robbie Moore has long opposed the proposals and has lodged a ten-page document with the consultation outlining his concerns.

“To make it clear, I’m not against renewable energy and understand the important role it plays in our energy mix.

“But I cannot simply stand by to see the construction of wind turbines being installed and constructed on protected peatland and on world-renowned heritage landscapes such as Walshaw Moor, which is the beating heart of Bronte country.

“This scheme will have lasting effects on our community, our landscape and environment.

“On paper, it sounds like a triumph for renewable energy, but in reality, it is anything but,” he said.

Mr Moore said he did not relish the prospect of 34 200-metre high turbines – “roughly twice the height of Big Ben” – and said his objection latter raised “grave concerns.”

“It harms our environment, our ecology, our wildlife and our bird population.

“It harms our precious peatland, our peat bogs and its carbon storage potential, it harms our heritage, our landscape, and our communities and neighbours,” he said.

Mr Moore has long-pressured fellow West Yorkshire and Lancashire MPs to come out in opposition to the proposals.

After considering his response carefully, Calder Valley Labour MP Josh Fenton-Glynn, in whose constituency the project would be sited, has done.

Mr Fenton-Glynn has always argued that the issues need careful consideration rather than immediate opposition, but says the science has led him to oppose Calderdale Energy Park in his response.

“I continue to have concerns about the impact of the Calderdale Energy Park on peat.

“I believe in net zero but I don’t think we get there by damaging carbon stores.

“Peatland is our Amazon rainforest and we should follow the science and protect it.

“That is why I have stated my opposition in response to the consultation,” he said on his social media pages.

Hebden Bridge and Todmorden East councillors from different parties have also responded in the negative.

Green Party and Labour politicians have been pressed for their view, and have now given it.

Councillor Hannah Mickleburgh-Benn (Green, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden East) is opposing the proposals in her consultation response.

“I remain – based on the most recent updated information provided by Calderdale Energy Park – strongly opposed to the Walshaw Moor wind farm proposal,” she said.

This is because the provided literature does not provide information on key parts of the construction and decommission in order to form a complete opinion on the environmental and ecological effects, she said.

In her response she asks dozens of questions of the company on a range of aspects of the proposal.

These include concerns about the impact on peatland, challenging assertions that the wider region and this site in particular is among the best for siting wind power, questioning its operational capacity and predicted carbon savings, assessment of flood risk potential impacts, and questions about the proposed cabling arrangements.

Coun Mickleburgh-Benn said in her consultation response: “Besides the implausibility of restoring a peat bog that’s been upearthed and in storage for up to 35 years, leaving turbine bases and roads on the site could have a legacy of negative impact for local ecology.”

And Labour’s Coun Sarah Courtney has said: “I am aware that we absolutely need to be supporting sustainable energy production, and that it is important that we are not NIMBYs and embrace opportunities for our area to contribute to renewable electricity production.

“However, having read information available, the scientific evidence in terms of water and peat, appears to indicate that this moor may not be the right site for these turbines.”

Calderdale Council’s ruling Reform UK group have long been clear in their opposition to the scheme.

“We will fight to scrap Net Zero, protect our countryside, and put local people before profiteers.” (John Greenwood)

Variety has interviewed The Other Bennet Sister star Ella Bruccoleri.

Based on the book by Janice Hadlow, “The Other Bennet Sister” retells Jane Austen‘s “Pride and Prejudice” from the viewpoint of overlooked Mary. Surprisingly, Ella had never read the Austen novel before she landed the part. “It’s mad, isn’t it?’ she laughs. “But I’m from North Yorkshire and I just thought Jane Austen wasn’t a writer for me. She was more for posh southern people. I used to read loads of Brontë because that was the world I was from.” (Simon Button)

China Daily features the 2026 Beijing International Book Fair.

The fair also marks the debut of two new releases: I Hide Myself within My Flowers, a commemorative poetry collection published to mark the 140th anniversary of American poet Emily Dickinson's death, and a deluxe gilt-edged hardcover edition of Emily Bronte's classic novel Wuthering Heights. (Xing Wen)

According to Express, the 1996 adaptation of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is ''better than' Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre'.