RESIDENTS fear that a second wind turbine could be built near a Keighley beauty spot.

They believe the new turbine, twice as big as the first, will be visible from popular Keighley Tarn.

They have enlisted the help of ward councillor Jan Smithies to find out more about the proposed second tower.

A 24-metre turbine was recently built near Keighley Tarn after the landowner gained planning approval.

Now a notice has gone up further along Tarn Lane stating that a second turbine, this time 48 metres high, is being planned.

The same applicants, Andrew Walker and Earth Mill Ltd, posted the consultation notification last month in advance of a formal planning application to Bradford Council.

The notice asks for local people’s views about the proposed 48-metre turbine, and says any comments received will be taken into consideration within the final design.

Jan Smithies, who represents Keighley West ward on Bradford Council, said a number of residents had contacted her after seeing the notice, assuming the 48-metre-high turbine had already been built.

Coun Smithies said: “The confusion has arisen because the turbine that was erected around the same time is from an earlier planning a petition.

“This was initially turned down was allowed an appeal.”

A planning application for the first turbine on land north of Tarn Lane – known locally as the ‘Yorkshire Bumps’ – was first submitted in May 2013 by Andrew Walker through his agents Earth Mill Ltd of Wetherby.

The plan called for a turbine with a 24.6-metre-high tower and a tip height of 34.2 metres.

Bradford Council planners turned down the application, saying the proposal represented inappropriate development in the Green Belt.

They said the introduction of a significant vertical structure and its rotating blades into “exposed and elevated open countryside” would harm the character of the landscape.

The applicant successfully appealed to the Planning Inspector, and permission was finally granted on April 11 this year.

The inspector said the loss of openness caused by the turbine would be ‘moderate to small-scale’.

Coun Smithies urged residents to keep an eye out for news that a planning application had been lodged for the second turbine.

She said residents who wished to oppose such an application should check out local newspapers, the council’s planning website, and public notices near the site on Tarn Lane.

A Bradford Council spokesman this week confirmed that the existing wind turbine was 24 metres high and had planning permission.