December 27, 2007
Wales
Wales
A row has blown up over the sharing out of a cash windfall in the Neath and Afan valleys.
Energy giant nPower Renewables owns the 16-turbine wind farm at Ffynnon Oer, between Glyncorrwg and Resolven.
It has set up a fund which will invest £32,000 every year for a quarter of a century in local regeneration and community projects.
The Afan Valley Forum will oversee £22,000 a year for the benefit of Glyncorrwg, Cymmer and Croeserw, while Resolven Community Council will distribute £10,000 around the village.
But Neath AM Gwenda Thomas said the Pelenna ward should also qualify for a share of the available cash.
“This community is, in my view, significantly affected by the wind turbine development,” said Mrs Thomas.
“The Pelenna ward has been affected as much as other communities that have been selected to benefit from the trust fund, and yet it has been excluded.”
Mrs Thomas has now written to nPower Renewables calling for Pelenna to be included.
She wrote: “If communities are to support the imposition of wind farms in their vicinity, then these communities must be convinced there will be a fair distribution of the benefits involved and not an arbitrary decision by the company.”
27 December 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/12/27/calls-for-handout-rethink/