January 12, 2012
Wales

Wind farm opponents in mid Wales set out their fears

BBC News, www.bbc.co.uk 12 January 2012

Campaigners fighting wind farm developments in mid Wales will voice their opposition in the assembly later.

They will be giving evidence to the Senedd’s environment and sustainability inquiry into Welsh energy policy.

There are already about 200 wind turbines across parts of Powys, with reports that a further 600 could be built in the future.

There is also concerns over proposals to construct a new network of power lines in the county.

The issue has prompted to Powys council to arrange a special meeting on the plans to be held later in January.

The council said the potential impact of wind farms was causing a huge amount of concern to people in the county.

The Senedd’s environment and sustainability committee, chaired by Lord Elis-Thomas, will hear the views of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, the opposition group Montgomeryshire Against Pylons, and the Cambrian Mountains Society.

The hearing will also be addressed by barrister Neville Thomas QC on behalf of the Shropshire and Mid Wales Alliance.

He is expected to question guidance viewed as promoting the development of wind farms, the so-called technical advice note, Tan 8, introduced in 2005.

In written evidence to the assembly committee, the alliance states: “It is difficult to understand why Tan 8 was not strangled at birth.

“If current intransigence persists in Cardiff the only result will be a plague of litigation stretching down over the years.”
Power cables

Another focus for campaigners in mid Wales has been the consultation announced by the National Grid last year.

It intends building a 19-acre electricity substation in either Abermule, near Newtown, or Cefn Coch, near Llanfair Caereinion.

The development will also involve constructing a 400,000-volt power cable network, to link planned wind farms to the electricity transmission network.

The National Grid has argued that the current network for transferring power is limited in mid Wales, and with a new generation of more powerful wind turbines producing more electricity the infrastructure for delivering the energy would require upgrading.

But in its written evidence to the committee, campaigners from Montgomeryshire Against Pylons warned: “There is no community benefit for the people who have to suffer the intrusion of huge steel pylons or substations.”

The environment committee is expected to report its findings to the assembly in March.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/12/wind-farm-opponents-in-mid-wales-set-out-their-fears/