THE final say on controversial plans to build a windfarm on the moors above Littleborough could be taken out of local hands.

Coronation Power, the firm hoping to build 12 125m turbines near Watergrove Reservoir, has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate before a decision has been made by Rochdale and Calderdale councils.

A hearing, overseen by a government inspector, could now determine the outcome of the application, which was submitted in March last year.

Normally, the decision would be made by the Pennines Township’s planning committee made up of Rochdale councillors.

If it was rejected at that stage, Coronation Power would then have the right to appeal.

But the firm is attempting to bypass that stage by going straight to the Inspectorate.

Vickram Mirchandani, managing director of Coronation Power, said: "The councils have 16 weeks to deal with our application, then we have six months to appeal.

"So rather than lose our right to appeal we felt it was best if we took it straight to the Planning Inspectorate.

"That way we can thrash out all the issues there and then.

"I am very confident about the scheme and I see no issues which cannot be resolved or at least mitigated for.

"The benefits far outweigh the drawbacks."

But no date has been set for the Planning Inspectorate hearing yet and a spokesman for Rochdale council said the application would still be heard by the Pennines planning committee, probably in the next month.

Mr Mirchandani added: "It is a complex and complicated application and there is a lot to consider.

"A planning committee will decide whether we will approve or reject it and we have been in constant dialogue with the applicants."

Protest group the Friends of the South Pennines, who feel the turbines will destroy parts of the moorland without providing significant energy savings, welcomed the move.

Spokesman Chris Edwards said: "We feel Coronation Power does not want the embarrassment of being turned down by the people of Rochdale.

"They have also decided to avoid the democratic process by not letting the people of Rochdale have their say.

"But overall we feel this is a positive development because we were getting the feeling from within the planning departments that they weren’t happy with parts of Coronation Power’s application.

"And the feedback we have also had from a number of independent reports commissioned into the plans has also supported our concerns."

A meeting of the Friends of the South Pennines takes place at 8pm tomorrow (Thursday) at the United Reformed Church, Victoria Street, Littleborough, to discuss the application.