THE planners have done it again. Not satisfied with turning down a second wind turbine in the quarry near Haworth, they have now received support from the government inspector who has refused permission for another one in Thornton.

The reason given this time is similar; the turbine would 'erode the openness' of the Green Belt, whatever that means. I suspect that this assessment falls into the trap set by the 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' concept, backed up by our normal resistance to change and our acceptance of what we think we know.

We've been there many times before when we've been reluctant to change the current practice or view and yet afterwards it hasn't taken long to accept the new situation as the norm.

The countryside would have looked very different before the land grabbing enclosure movement of the 18th century disposed of the common land. The change from horses to motorised traffic was equally fraught, but it didn't take long to catch on. There were probably also letters to the T&A when the new electricity National Grid introduced pylons 90 years ago.

Wind turbines dotted about the countryside aren't a problem, unless we want them to be, as they are insignificant compared with the man-made countryside that we think is natural, but isn't, and contains many significantly destructive practices that aren't evident at first glance.

The open Green Belt is man made in most cases as much of it is unnatural and debased despite being grass rather than housing. Left alone it would be covered in broadleaved trees, and often not drained, rather than abused by short term farming practices. The moors would have been at least shrub covered, mainly hazel and alder, and not burned heather to provide so called 'sport' for the ignorant wealthy.

Trees have been grubbed up, and farming systems, involving excessive ploughing and spraying, have destroyed the soil structure and the capacity to store both water and carbon dioxide. Faster, chemically enriched run off means both flooding, and a marked reduction of river life.

Additionally the hills are alive with the bleating of sheep leading to the destruction of young trees and a compacted subsoil that promotes excessive run off and downstream flooding. Lower down, cheap milk means industrial scale indoor dairy units with enormous volumes of animal effluent and related run-off problems.

When we want to worry about what's happening to rural areas we should concentrate on the above and the reduction in bird and insect life, and not on forms of proudly visible renewable energy production that will help slow the increasing volatility and destructive power of the climate that threatens all of us.