Wind farm warriors prepare for battle
Fifteen years of phoney war is coming to an end in the fight for the future of an area described as “West Glamorgan’s last wilderness”.
A planning application has been submitted for 19 pylons scaling 400ft for Mynydd-y-Gwair, north of Swansea.
Farmer Glyn Morgan, chairman of Save Our Common Mountain Environment, the campaign group set up to fight the plans for a large wind farm, said: “It will be completely devastating for the upland area of Mynydd-y-Gwair. The infrastructure put there to accommodate these turbines will decimate the environment there completely.”
The area was recently recognised as a place of tranquility by conservationists.
Mr Morgan said: “The plan isn’t very clear, but from what we can see it is predominantly on the peat bog area which is, in itself, environmentally catastrophic.
“To get foundations they will have to excavate tonnes and tonnes of peat bog.”
The area is a favoured picnic spot for walkers and nature-lovers.
Mr Morgan said: “Some of the views you can see from there have been unchanged for the past 300 to 400 years.
“That’s what makes it special.
“It is an unknown gem which should be kept for posterity.”
The wind farm scheme is the brainchild of npower, sponsors of the Ospreys.
Now campaigners are urging all “wind warriors”, both locally and internationally, to join the fight.
Mr Morgan said: “We would urge the people of Swansea to go online at www.socme.org to keep this area as it is.”
The fate of the scheme will be decided by Swansea Council’s planning committee — not the Assembly or Westminster as some locals had thought — as it is just under 50 MW capacity.
1 September 2008
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