Tuesday 5th October 2004

In responding to the Assembly’s decision today concerning the Scarweather off shore wind power station proposal CPRW’s Director, Peter Ogden said:

“The future integrity of the planning system in Wales now stands on the brink of a public credibility abyss.

It is inconceivable that Assembly members have been persuaded that the Planning Decision Committee’s judgement was correct, when it was so obviously based on a series of ill-founded premises. This decision has not only seriously tarnished the role of that Committee as an impartial arbiter in the planning decision-making process, but also brought into question the credibility of the Assembly as a democratic decision making body.

Despite attempts by Assembly Members who challenged the Assembly Planning Decision Committee’s rejection of an eminent Planning Inspector recommendation, the natural beauty of this special part of the Welsh coast seems set to be forfeited”.

CPRW is astonished that the Inspector’s conclusions have been rejected and that his judgement that the visual impacts of the proposal were so great that they outweighed the renewable energy benefits of the project.

CPRW remains convinced that the Inspector’s conclusions were completely justified, robust and totally consistent with the evidence at the public inquiry.

In reflecting on today’s events, CPRW’s Director further indicated that,

“This is a sad day for anyone who understands why Wales is a special place. The facts spoke for themselves and the outcome of today’s deliberations in the Assembly show how little they really care about the importance of Welsh landscapes.

Scarweather will go down in history as a classic example of how this Government’s obsessive quest to promote wind energy, continues to be illogical, inappropriate and insensitively forfeiting the natural beauty of Wales’s coastal areas and uplands. I gain small but hollow crumbs of comfort in knowing that CPRW and a great many local people in the Porthcawl area, were not party to the sacrifice of yet another part of Wales’ landscape heritage.”

For further information please contact:
Peter Ogden on 01341 423862 (Home) / 07855 831014 (M)

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW) is a charity which aims to secure the protection and improvement of the rural landscape, environment and the amenities of towns and villages in Wales, whilst recognising the importance of its indigenous cultures. Since its formation in 1928 it has developed into an important voice, both at national and local level.

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