He claims that the development on green belt land at Hook Moor near Micklefield would be a huge step towards helping the council achieve its renewable energy targets.

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But his support has annoyed opponents of the scheme who claim that he should not have spoken out before it had been considered by the council's Plans Panel.

Coun James Lewis (Lab, Kippax and Methley), whose ward includes the wind farm site, said he was "surprised
and disappointed".

He said: "I would have expected that he also considered the views of those hundreds of local residents who have objected to the proposed
location.

"However, he seems to be riding roughshod over their concerns that the proposed turbines are too close to people's homes. Hopefully the Plans Panel will take a more balanced view."

Carolyn Walker, spokeswoman for the Hook Moor Wind Farm Action Group, added: "I don't think it's good practice for the council leader to be issuing this release before the scheme has been considered."

Banks Developments Ltd has submitted a planning application for five wind turbines and associated infrastructure.

The turbines, which have a life span of 25 years, would be a maximum height of 125 metres (410ft) and an overall maximum generating
capacity of 15 megawatts - enough electricity to power roughly the entire population of Kippax and Methley.

Coun Brett said: "The government has set a target of 10 per cent of electricity being generated from renewable resources by 2010. The five
turbines proposed at Hook Moor could provide enough electricity to meet the domestic needs of up to 8,845 households.

"If the scheme was to be approved, we would meet the government's current renewable energey target for Leeds in a single
scheme.

Banks has offered assurances about issues like noise, interference to TV and radio reception and extra traffic caused by construction vehicles. The number of turbines has also been reduced from seven to five following discussions with planning officers to address concerns about their visual impact.

However, over 1,000 people have objected to the plans, claiming that the turbines would be seen for miles around and would be very noisy.

Carolyn said: "We don't reject the idea of renewable energy, our objections are for this specific site. It is just a few hundred yards away from people's houses and the developers can't guarantee there would not be any problems with noise."

The planning application will be decided by the council's Plans Panel East, but no date has yet been set.