October 17, 2014
Wales

Shock U-turn on plans for Corwen wind farm

Rebecca Cole | The Free Press | 17 October 2014 | www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk

Campaigners are celebrating after a shock U-turn on plans for a wind farm.

Scottish Power Renewables announced its decision to scrap a proposal for a wind farm in Mynydd Mynyllod which would have seen 25 wind turbines installed on the mountainside near Corwen.

SPR decided not to submit an application to the Planning Inspectorate despite having been developing the project since 2010. including detailed technical and environmental studies and a review of grid connection options.

The company explained the proposals had been reviewed and, “on the basis of this analysis” decided not to progress it any further due to concerns over “landscape and visual effects”, particularly those associated with “any potential grid connection options”.

A spokesman said: “We are very grateful for the feedback and advice we have received from the very many interested parties during the development of the project.

“We have consulted widely with a range of stakeholders including county councils, community councils and the Mynydd Mynyllod Community Liaison Panel.”

Plaid Cymru parliamentary candidates have welcomed the news claiming it marks a “turning of the tide” against pylons in rural Wales.

Marc Jones, standing for Clwyd West, has campaigned to place the grid connection from the Clocaenog windfarms to Cefn Meiriadog underground.

He said: “This decision by Scottish Power is potentially very significant.

“The company has accepted that new pylons to link these wind turbines to the grid are not acceptable to local communities.

“There is a growing consensus across Wales, whether along the Menai Straits, Montgomery, Carmarthenshire or Denbighshire, that some of our most beautiful countryside should not be ruined by pylons.”

In Llannefydd, Henllan and surrounding areas there has been a huge campaign to resist the pylons and, according to Mr Jones, SPR’s news has given campaigners hope that the company may yet see sense and agree for the planned link up to Cefn Meiriadog to go underground.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/10/17/shock-u-turn-on-plans-for-corwen-wind-farm/