January 2, 2008
Wales
Wales
Neath AM Gwenda Thomas has criticised the way a £32,000 windfall from an energy giant has been distributed.
nPower Renewables own and operate the 16-turbine Ffynnon Oer wind farm on land between Glyncorrwg and Resolven.
As part of the deal to build the wind farm, the company agreed to set up the Fynnon Oer Community Fund, which will donate £32,000 a year to local communities for 25 years.
At present, £22,000 of this cash is handed over to the Afan Valley Forum, which spend the money on projects in Glyncorrwg, Cymmer and Croeserw.
The remaining £10,000 is distributed by Resolven Community Council.
But Ms Thomas says the neighbouring Pelenna ward, which includes Tonmawr and Pontrhydyfen, should also qualify for a grant.
Ms Thomas criticised the way the area had been excluded from the scheme when it had, she said, been “significantly affected” by the development.
She went on to question whether the company had considered the distribution of the Ffynnon Oer fund cash in a clear and objective way.
In a letter to nPower’s community benefits officer she wrote: “I think it is important that if communities are to support the imposition of wind farms in their vicinity then these communities must be convinced that there will be a fair distribution of the benefits involved and not an arbitrary distribution by the company.”
by Matt Nicholls, Neath Guardian
2 January 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/01/02/neath-am-calls-for-wind-farm-benefit-rethink/