Rows at Glyndebourne are usually confined to polite disagreements over a picnic spot or the staging of The Magic Flute.

But the organisers of the quintessential summer opera festival now find themselves at the centre of a planning dispute over a proposed wind turbine that would be higher than the face of Big Ben.

Lewes District Council will determine the fate of a scheme that has divided opinion in East Sussex. Glyndebourne Opera House wants to build a 70m (230ft) turbine in its grounds in the South Downs, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Park designate. It claims that, by using the 850kw turbine to generate electricity, the opera house will cut its carbon emissions by 71 per cent.

However a coalition of four environmental groups – the South Downs Society, the Council for National Parks, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the Ramblers’ Association – is determined to block the application, to Lewes District Council, which is expected to be heard on June 20.

They say that the turbine will ruin the surrounding countryside, destroying views over “hundreds of square kilometres”. While the organisations are in favour of renewable energy, they say they do not want a turbine on land due to become a National Park.

They argue that the turbine would dominate the landscape from viewpoints such as the Long Man of Wilmington, Firle Beacon, Beddingham Hill, Mount Harry and Black Cap.

Roy Haycock, chairman of the Sussex branch of the CPRE, said: “Realistically we’ve only got one problem with the plans: the location. It will be seen from all over the place and will glint as the blades move, drawing the eye to it.”

Tony Parker, of the South Downs Society said: “This represents a massive detriment to the South Downs without any perceivable impact on the carbon footprint.”

A windmill once stood on the proposed site, on Mill Plain, but Dr Parker said that the turbine would be four times higher. “It would be higher than the clock face on Big Ben,” he added.

Gus Christie, the chairman of Glyndebourne, dismissed arguments against the £750,000 turbine as “lies” and said the scheme had overwhelming local support. “We did a poll last year and found nearly 80 per cent of residents were in favour,” he said.

“A susbequent one showed them to be two-to-one in favour. But the ones against it are very forcefully against it.” He added that the turbine would be very visible up to 2½km away, “but beyond that it will barely be noticeable”.

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