CONTROVERSIAL proposals to build the biggest windfarm in England on fells near Tebay will go to a public inquiry in April after the Department of Trade and Industry refused to adjourn the hearing following a request from a consortium of opposing local authorities.

The much-anticipated inquiry into the Whinash Windfarm will go ahead on April 19 on the proviso that applicants Chalmerston Wind Power Ltd supply extra information on the environmental issues surrounding the 27-turbine development over the next week.

A consortium of opposing local councils - which includes Cumbria County Council, Eden District Council, South Lakeland District Council, the Lake District National Park Authority and Yorkshire Dales National Park - had requested that the inquiry be delayed by a one-month or until the autumn to allow them to sufficient time to scour the highly technical environmental documents.

They complained at the second pre-inquiry meeting held last month that they would have a little over a month to digest and respond to the information before all evidence for the inquiry has to be submitted to planning inspector David Rose by March 18.

But the request was refused by the DTI, who in a letter to Mr Rose said that nothing would be gained from adjourning the inquiry.

The DTI has however agreed to consider a request for an adjournment if the extra information, which has been supplied voluntarily by CWP Ltd, is not submitted in the next week.

The consortium of councils is one of a number of "umbrella" groups fighting the £55 million project that will see 27 turbines taller than each standing taller than St Pauls Cathedral erected on land between the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks and alongside the M6 and the West Coast Mainline.

Other objectors - including local residents, Friends of the Lake District and Cumbria Tourist Board - are currently preparing to battle a project they believe will scar the landscape and damage the local economy, and are confident of victory.

But CWP Ltd, who are spending around £500,000 on the inquiry, is also confident that it will be granted permission for a windfarm, which will they say generate enough energy to power tens of thousands of homes and will actually boost the county's £1 billion-a-year tourism industry.

The inquiry will be held at Shap Wells Hotel and is expected to take between four and 16 weeks.