A government inspector will decide whether Bradford Council was justified in refusing a 25-metre wind turbine in Laycock

The turbine, planned for grazing land near Tarn Lane, was refused in July by planning officers who said it would harm the open-ness of the greenbelt and spoil views from nearby Keighley Tarn.

Now the applicant has appealed. He says greenbelt policies are out of date and don’t take into account climate change and accuses the council of having a “confused” stance on turbines.

Despite the council’s concerns over Keighley Tarn, the appeal says the turbine “is not close to a sensitive settlement or culturally important place of public access. As such the area is considered to be capable of absorbing this form of sustainable development.”

A planning inspector will decide in the coming months.

Meanwhile another plan for a wind turbine in Keighley has been thrown out because of the harm it would cause the surrounding countryside.

The 24-metre turbine was earmarked for Aire View Farm in Harden Road, Long Lee, but the plans were refused by Bradford Council.

The application, by the Ahern family, would have generated 176,000kw of green energy a year, powering the farm and on-site equestrian business and feeding energy into the national grid.

But planning officer Paul Verity said the site, on the top of a hill, was “particularly prominent” and the turbine would “readily attract the eye”.

It was refused because of its potential impact on greenbelt land and harm to the openness of the surrounding countryside.

And Oxenhope parish councillors say a planned wind turbine on a 30-metre mast near their village would have too much of a visual impact.

They recommended Bradford Council refuse the application for the turbine at Upper Bradshaw Head Farm, Long Causeway.

They agreed with a previous objection from Denholme Town Council. The site is in Denholme, but close to Oxenhope.