A MASSIVE wind farm proposed close to ecologically and historically sensitive areas in Northumberland would be at "one of the most suitable and appropriate sites" in the North East, the company involved has claimed.

The Journal reported on Saturday how London-based Air Farmers Ltd is working on a scheme to build 16 turbines – each 125 metres high – at Middleton Burn, just north of Belford.

The site is close to the National Trust-owned St Cuthbert’s Cave visitor attraction, the popular St Cuthbert’s Way and St Oswald’s Way walking routes and the Holburn Moss peat bog and nature reserve.

It is just a few kilometres south west of the internationally-important Lindisfarne nature reserve and the North Northumberland dunes special area of conservation.

The turbines would also be close to Northumberland’s heritage coast and the Kyloe Hills and Glendale area of high landscape value.

The Northumberland-based wind farm monitoring website, windbyte, has said it is “hard to imagine a more inappropriate site” for massive industrial turbines. But Air Farmers have now sent a letter to local residents setting out the perceived benefits of its scheme.

The letter, written by project manager Bob Morgan, claims the North East has “one of the best wind resource areas in England”.

It adds: “We have concluded that the Middleton Burn site is one of the most suitable and appropriate sites within the North East region for development as a wind farm.”

Mr Morgan also claims the proposal would generate “sufficient clean, renewable electricity to satisfy the equivalent annual energy needs of up to 33,000 North East region households”.

He adds: “We believe the benefits of generating electricity from a free, self-replenishing and non-polluting natural resource will outweigh any local impacts of the proposed wind farm.”