Anti-turbine protest goes Europe-wide
Protesters against plans for 19 wind turbines each more than 400ft high on “West Glamorgan’s last wilderness” have joined a new European-wide campaign against wind energy schemes.
Opponents of proposals by npower renewables (sponsors of The Ospreys rugby team) for the wind turbines on common land on hills at Mynydd y Gwair north of Swansea say the project will ruin the upland area which has remained unchanged for hundreds of years.
Save our Common Environment (Socme), which is fighting the plans, has joined the European Platform against Windfarms representing growing disenchantment with the schemes.
German, Belgian, Spanish and French federations and associations have founded the platform.
A spokesman for Epaw said windfarms represented “ecological deception and financial scandal”.
The spokesman said: “This is principally due to the intermittent and uncontrollable nature of wind, which makes it necessary to rely on the back-up of polluting fossil-fuels power stations, 24 hours a day.”
Epaw claims subsidies for wind farms cost 6 billion euro a year in France and Germany alone.
The platform is demanding an immediate moratorium with the suspension of all windfarm projects, approved or not.
The Duke of Beaufort’s Somerset Trust owns the land on which the Mynydd y Gwair wind turbine project is planned.
But the trust’s proposals have been opposed by Swansea-born dollar billionaire Gren Thomas, 64, who made a fortune prospecting diamonds in Canada.
He has given an undisclosed sum to help protesters organise opposition to the scheme.
Gower AM Edwina Hart has also officially objected to the scheme and veteran environmentalist and TV broadcaster David Bellamy has taken part in a protest walk against the scheme.
Socme believes upland farms will be devastated by the turbines and the bringing in of 88,000 tonnes of road stone for the project.
There are also concerns that kites and other hawks which frequent the area will be killed.
But yesterday, Natasha Bacon, npower renewables project manager for the Mynydd y Gwair Wind Farm proposal said: “If built, Mynydd Gwair Wind Farm has the potential to provide power for around 28,000 homes, taking into account fluctuations in wind speed.
“It has a number of characteristics which make it an ideal site for a wind farm.
“It’s very windy and has a good separation distance from nearby properties. There are no statutory wildlife or landscape designations and the is site close to the electricity distribution system as there are existing electricity pylons running adjacent to the land.”
Ms Bacon also said the 88,000 thousand tonnes of stone for the construction of the site would be delivered over an extended period. She added: “We have undertaken traffic studies while preparing our planning application for the site which recommend that during construction a traffic management system should be put in place with timed deliveries so that the traffic associated with the wind farm development does not have an impact on busy times of the day, such as morning rush hour.
“Npower renewables undertakes numerous measures to mitigate any effects of wind farm construction at all of its sites across the UK. We have been working on the Mynydd y Gwair proposal for a number of years, during which extensive studies, including bird surveys have been undertaken.
“Any impact the wind farm would have on wildlife will be considered as part of the planning process. The Welsh Assembly Government has ambitious targets for renewable energy and sites such as Mynydd y Gwair are vital if we are to realise these targets.”
Swansea council is to determine the application as the scheme comes just under the 50mw capacity which would require it to be decided by the Welsh Assembly.
By Robin Turner
Western Mail
11 October 2008
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