While I think there are much uglier blots on the landscape than wind turbines – electricity pylons, for example – I do sympathise with the passionate fight against plans for a 200ft mast in the heart of Bronte country.

Despite huge opposition from campaigners and the Bronte Society, who said the structure could lead to a devastating impact on one of the world’s most famous landscapes, Bradford Council has allowed Banks Renewables to build a wind monitoring mast, expected to pave the way for four 330ft turbines on Thornton Moor, Denholme.

The developers say a wind farm would produce enough electricity to power 4,400 homes, going some way towards addressing 21st century energy challenges.

Of course, we need to focus on new renewable energy sources and, like them or loathe them, wind farms are a viable alternative to fossil fuel. But couldn’t a little more thought be given as to where they are located?

Nobody wants one in their back yard, but the Thornton Moor proposal goes beyond ‘nimbyism’. This is part of a famous, much cherished landscape, that attracts tourists from across the globe. It has enormous significance in terms of our heritage and in generating the local economy.

If it’s considered perfectly acceptable to stick a wind farm in Bronte Country, surely the same fate should befall the nation’s other culturally significant beauty spots.

Why not stick one in the middle of the Thomas Hardy trail in Dorset, or in Jane Austen country in leafy Hampshire? Why not have a load of wind turbines overlooking Stonehenge, or Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, or slap bang next to the pretty Costwolds villages populated by stockbrokers, supermodels and rock stars?

Surely there’s room for a few turbines in London’s Hyde Park, and why not stick some down in the Sussex wolds, on Cornwall’s Bodmin Moor or on Glastonbury Tor? Why not dot a few turbines along the banks of the Thames in the Home Counties, or next to the golf courses so beloved of retired judges and wealthy television personalities?

Come to think of it, there’s plenty of space for wind farms on the Balmoral and Sandringham estates, and in Windsor Park.

While there’s not exactly a North/South divide when it comes to wind farms, it does appear that we’re expected to put up with the kind of schemes that would make national headlines if they were proposed further down the country.

In the North we’re used to dark satanic mills, and chimneys and towers belching out smoke. Our towns, cities and villages were built on heavy industry.

But our moorland is precious, and should be protected from development.