August 26, 2016
Wales

Green light for six wind turbines in Llangurig

Owain Farrington | News North Wales | 25 August 2016 | www.newsnorthwales.co.uk

Full planning permission has been granted for six 100 metre tall wind turbines at Llangurig, slated as being in “the wrong place.”

The permission was granted after a planning inquiry approved the proposal on August 23.

The appeal was made to the planning inspectorate by Bryn Blaen Wind Farm Ltd against Powys County Council after they failed to give notice of a decision on the application within the prescribed time.

The original planning application was made on October 13, 2014, and the inquiry began on November 26, 2015.

County councillor for the area, Graham Jones, is against the project as is Llangurig Community Council.

Cllr Jones said: “We were dead against it. It is just in the wrong place.

“There are constituents who live in close proximity to the site.

“It is bad. They are going to put this new road in and that is going to mean there is significant ground movement too.

“Llangurig Community Council was against it, Powys planning department was against it in the end, unanimously.”

The report agreed with Cllr Jones, finding there would be an impact on residents.

In the report, planning inspector Aidan McCooey said: “There would be significant adverse impacts on eight nearby properties.

“These adverse impacts must count against the proposal.”

Though this did not sway the overall conclusion of the inquiry.

Mr McCooey identified the main issues for consideration as:

The report found that there are no protected designated landscapes that would be adversely affected by the proposal.

Several heritage assets are also in the area, including a bronze age cairn and four hillforts in the Clywedog Valley.

Yet in conclusion to the forecast impact on heritage sites, Mr McCooey said: “I conclude that the impact on other heritage assets would not be significant.”

Assessing the benefits of the proposal Mr McCooey said: “This would be a substantial contribution towards the increased share of energy production from renewable sources.”

The report also estimated that the project would generate £510,000 per annum for the Welsh economy with a total capital investment of £20 million.

Disappointed by the approval of the application, Cllr Jones added: “The way I believe it was going when they had the appeal, it seemed in the favour of the residents but they must have thought otherwise.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/08/26/green-light-for-six-wind-turbines-in-llangurig/