A businessman who has spent more than £1 million renovating an historic country mansion near Bradford says he will be forced to sell up at a “massive loss” if plans for a wind farm near his home get the go ahead.

Richard Chadwick, owner of Airedale Chemicals in Cross Hills, Keighley, bought Bracken Hall, built by the Foster family of Denholme in the 1850s, eight years ago.

He has substantially renovated the dilapidated property and its grounds to restore them to their former glory.

But the mansion is about half a mile away from the site of a proposed wind farm on Thornton Moor, where developer Banks Renewables hopes to build up to four turbines with the potential to produce electricity for 4,400 homes.

Mr Chadwick said he became aware of just how close the turbines would be to his home when he received a newsletter from Banks Renewables earlier this month.

Mr Chadwick said: “I was horrified when I had a look at where they were going to be.

“Bracken Hall would be the nearest residence to these monstrosities. These wind turbines would stand 175 metres high above Bracken Hall, they would be higher than Blackpool Tower. I don’t think people quite realise the size of these things.

“I was hoping generations of my family could make Bracken Hall their home.

“If this proposal goes ahead I and my family will be moving well away from the Bradford area and the financial consequence of selling Bracken Hall would be devastating."

But Mark Dowdall, for the Banks Group, said: “The potential effect that wind farms have on the value of residential properties in the communities around them is often raised with us.

“However, independent research carried out by Oxford Brookes University on behalf of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors found that wind farms did not, in fact, lead to such a reduction in local residential property prices."

  • Read the full story Wednesday’s T&A