February 2, 2011
Wales

Firm set to unveil wind turbine plan at public meeting

By Graeme Wilkinson, www.thisissouthwales.co.uk 2 February 2011

A public xhibition will be held in Brechfa this Friday on the latest plans for a wind farm in north east Carmarthenshire.

It is being organised by wind power developer Renewable Energy Systems (RES) Ltd.

The company has applied to Carmarthenshire Council for planning permission to build 11 wind turbines on Mynydd Llanllwni.

The development is called Bryn Llywelyn Wind Farm and project manager David Cox said: “If you would like to get to know more about the project and the application, please feel free to visit the exhibition. It would also be valuable for us to listen to your views.”

Opposing

The exhibition will be at Brechfa village hall from noon until 6.30pm this Friday.

Members of the Friends of Mynydd Llanllwni action group have already declared that they will be opposing the development.

Group chairman John Jones said the hill top was an area of natural beauty.

“It may not be the prettiest of mountains but it has always been like that since neolithic times” he said. There are plans for two other wind farms proposed for the same part of the county from a different energy company, called Rwe Npower Renewables Ltd.

It wants to build 28 turbines east of Alltwalis, in a development known as Brechfa Forest West, and a separate 12 turbines north of Abergorlech, called Brechfa Forest East.

The company has already submitted a planning application for Brechfa East this month to Carmarthenshire Council.

Contribution

Developer Jenny Prothero, said: “Our proposal for Brechfa Forest East has been developed in consultation with Carmarthenshire Council and Forestry Commission Wales.

“The wind farm could make an important contribution toward Wales’s renewable energy targets as well as creating up to 100 jobs during construction.

“We hope the council will approve the application when it goes before the council’s planning committee following their consultation process.”

The Brechfa West development is too large to be decided by the county council so it will instead be decided by the new Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), which deals with major energy projects such as power stations.

This application is expected later this year.

Opposing all three applications is the group know as the Brechfa Forest Energy Action Group, including long- standing campaigner Caroline Evans from Gwernogle.

She said: “Wind turbines are completely inefficient and a waste of taxpayers money.”

journal.star@swwmedia.co.uk

For more information on the RES plans, see www.bryn llywelyn.co.uk. A copy of the plans and a non-technical summary of the environmental survey are available from Bryn Stores Shop, Brechfa, and Gwyddgrug Post Office in Delfan Stores, Gwyddgrug.

Information on the two proposals under consideration by Carmarthenshire Council can be found on their website or at the council’s offices in Carmarthen.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/02/firm-set-to-unveil-wind-turbine-plan-at-public-meeting/