Wind farm scheme for Cornwall village in Domesday Book

Helland – a village near Bodmin – is named in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has always been a rural, farming community.

Concerned residents say it now faces a scheme for seven 100m turbines, each of which will be twice the height of Nelson’s Column in London, at Helland Barton Farm.

Opponents say they will be visible from north to south coasts of Cornwall and as far away as Trevose Head, near Constantine Bay, 23 miles away - an area of more than 450 square miles.

Orlando Kimber, chair of Helland Parish Council, said: “Whilst renewables may be highly preferable to burning fossil fuels for energy, the delivery of any major building project needs careful scrutiny. Once a business installs industrial megastructures on prime agricultural fields, the site can never return to productive farmland.”

WMW Consultants Ltd applied for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scoping opinion on behalf of applicant Mark Quinn in March 2025 ahead of a full planning application, which has yet to be submitted.

It is proposed to install a wind farm on the 175-hectare site. The maximum tip height is expected to be around 115 metres (377ft).

The exact specification and number of turbines will be determined at the planning application stage, although locals were shown plans in August last year which featured seven turbines on a map of the site.

The proposal comes at a time when the Government has issued a new Land Use Framework (March 2026). This recommends putting at least 420,000 acres under control for solar, wind and housing. As there is no ‘brownfield-first’ policy for new builds, this makes it increasingly likely that every parish will face the loss of open green spaces in the near future, says Helland’s parish chair.

“Every parish north and south of Helland will be affected and the visual impact on the landscape will be huge,” added Cllr Kimber.

Following a meeting in March last year, neighbouring Blisland Parish Council resolved to represent the concern felt within the parish about the “significant and widespread environmental impact that a sizeable wind farm will have in this location”.

Parish clerk Maria Roper wrote to Cornwall Council’s planning department, saying: “In particular it seems likely that the proposal will have a significant visual impact on, and directly affect the setting of, the Cornish National Landscape and will become an alien visual presence in the CNL that will be visible over long distances and from many different locations remote from the site.

A map showing seven turbines on the proposed site (Pic courtesy of Helland Parish Council)

“The impact of red ‘hazard and warning lights’ affixed to the turbines will significantly impact on the Dark Skies Area. If a formal application for this wind farm is forthcoming the parish council asks that every effort is made in the design process to minimise and mitigate these adverse effects.”

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) also has concerns “due to insufficient information being provided to enable MOD to carry out assessments to determine the impacts of the development. Development of the type proposed may impact on aviation safety and the operation and capability of defence sites and assets”.

The all-parishes meeting will take place at 6.30pm on Thursday, April 30 at Helland Village Hall.

The council says that due to the hall’s capacity, the meeting will be restricted to councillors who have been personally invited.