20th June 2001
Unprecedented 100m wind turbines at Cefn Croes would destroy a nationally important landscape and subvert upland land use policy when Ceredigion is already 5 times over the UK wind power target.
CPRW's Director, Merfyn Williams, today launched a scathing attack on what has become known as mega madness in the mountains - the proposal by the US-backed but UK subsidised Renewable Development Corporation to build 39 wind turbines up to 100m (328ft) high in the Cambrian Mountains. CPRW has submitted a complex and detailed 32-page Objection (summary attached) to Ceredigion County Council, which under power station legislation has the ability to call for a Public Inquiry into the scheme, which is to be determined by the Department of Trade and Industry.
CPRW argues that the adverse visual impact of the project has been understated by the applicants' Environmental Assessment and the proposal, which contravenes all the relevant planning policies, is inconsistent with government policy which requires it to be 'environmentally acceptable'. "The landscapes around Pumlumon are already compromised but not yet fatally flawed by wind turbines at every point of the compass" said Mr Williams. "This huge project would be the last straw, and it is an indictment of a policy out of control when Ceredigion has already 5 times more wind energy capacity than envisaged by the Government's UK target for 2010. Wales is already above the level, and the impetus for renewables - which CPRW supports - is now moving on to more reliable and less damaging technologies such as offshore wind, solar and tidal power".
David Bateman, the Secretary of the Ceredigion Branch commented further: "This landscape has been recognised as of national park quality, and both ADAS and Forest Enterprise have pledged to conserve and develop its environmental quality through their Mynydd y Ffynnon scheme. Approval by the DTI would betray those aims just when the renewable energy argument is opening up to more acceptable and achievable alternatives"
The proposed 39 turbines up to 100m (328ft) tall would be the biggest yet seen on a UK windfarm, and would be clearly visible in a wide sweep of country which already contains 8 x 47m turbines at Ystumtuen, 19 x 55m at Mynydd Gorddu, 20x 41m at Llangwyryfon and 22 x 48m at Bryn Titli in Radnorshire. In addition there are government subsidised generating contracts adjacent to the site, and at Y Foel on the opposite side of the Wye Valley which could produce a further 40 turbines of the same size, or pro rata. Also visible from the tops of Pumlumon are Llandinam (103 x 45m), Carno (56 x 53m) and Cemaes (24 x 41m), between which a further 75 turbines of 59-76m are waiting for Public Inquiry decisions, and 23 x 77m are in the planning process.
Because the Installed Capacity of the project (39 turbines at a nominal 1.5 Megawatts each) exceeds 50MW, it falls to be determined by the Department of Trade and Industry under s36 of the 1989 Electricity Act. The local planning authority (Ceredigion County Council) functions as a consultee, and if it objects, a Public Inquiry has by law to be held. CPRW will play a full part in any such Inquiry, in coalition with local objectors.
CPRW has a detailed democratically evolved policy which supports the development of renewable energy in principle, coupled with restraint in use and the conservation of resources. It is generally opposed to the development of land based wind turbines except where they are relatively small or are located in already degraded or industrialised environments. It is broadly in favour of off-shore turbines, provided that they are not in sensitive locations. It is the only non-government organisation to employ a consultant to help it campaign on wind power proposals (Geoff Sinclair of Environment Information Services based at Martletwy, Pembrokeshire - contact 01834 891331 FAX 891475). Mr Sinclair lived at Nant y Moch on Pumlumon from 1969-73 and is very familiar with the area. He has compiled the text of CPRW's Objection, has extensive experience of wind power station issues and since 1995 has taken part as a major witness in 17 wind power Public Inquiries (including 8 also as advocate).
The UK government's policy is to increase the present level of 3% of energy from all renewable sources to 10% by 2010 with land-based wind power amounting to 1.3% to 2.6% (depending on a range of three options) . Wind energy is earmarked as the 'lead technology' in this period, but with the emphasis progressively shifting towards offshore installations. Land-based wind power output at present amounts to 0.3% in the UK, and present installed capacity equates to 2.7% in Wales, and 14% in Ceredigion. Developers of a range of renewable technologies have competed for the award of subsidised generating contracts under successive rounds of the NFFO (Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation) by which all their contracted output is guaranteed a sale at premium prices for a 15-year period. The NFFO contracts still require developers to obtain planning consent, a process which has become progressively more difficult as objections have increased in proportion to the cumulative impact of projects.
A summary of CPRW's submitted
objections to this scheme is available below
May 2001
Planning Application No: A000737
This is a compressed Summary of a fully argued Objection of 32pp plus 6 Appendices
1. This objection derives from CPRW's 2000 wind power policy which recognises the need to harness the power of renewable energy sources but disagrees with the undue emphasis on wind turbines which has begun to destroy the landscapes of upland and coastal Wales.
2. The proposed 39 machines up to 100m (328ft) high are almost twice the height of the largest on a Welsh wind power station and would create an unprecedented degree of visual intrusion over vast areas of the special landscapes of Pumlumon and the Eleneydd considered of sufficient quality to have been designated as the Cambrian Mountains National Park. They would add unacceptably to the existing cumulative impact of the turbines at Mynydd Gorddu, Llangwyryfon, Ystumtuen and Bryn Titli and be clearly seen from as far as Aberystwyth.
3. The proposal site is on the Pwllpeiran Experimental Husbandry Farm and the Canolbarth Forest, and negates the developing role of ADAS in conserving and enhancing the landscapes, recently expressed in the Mynydd y Ffynnon project. It is particularly ironic that Forest Enterprise, which now recognises the adverse impact of planting conifers on skylines, should be hosting the development of 100m high turbines.
4. CPRW considers that the applicants have not demonstrated the need to select this particular site, and fail to show that there are no less damaging sites. Their Environmental Statement understates the significance of the proposal's impact; fails to set its giant scale in the context of other developments; and denegrates the fine qualities of the landscape it would spoil. In particular, CPRW criticises the technical presentation of the visual impact of the proposal in which the photographs flatten the landscape and the visualisations shorten the projected turbines. It provides an imbalanced basis for planning authorities to reach a decision.
5. CPRW does not dispute the claimed output of this gigantic scheme as potentially 1% of Welsh electricity consumption but points out that there is already enough capacity installed in Wales to exceed the highest wind power target option for 2010 canvassed by the Government's Renewables Review; and enough in Ceredigion to exceed by five times the relevant amount for the county. Moreover, the Prime Minister's Environment speech The Next Steps of 6th March 2001 made it clear that renewable energy policy is now focussing on offshore wind and previously neglected forms of energy. As an example a tidal pools project is planned off Rhyl which is claimed to produce predictable all-year power double that intermittently and unreliably generated from the entire output from all the 800 turbines built over the last decade throughout the UK, and 5 times that of all those built in Wales.
6. The proposal contravenes all the relevant policies in the Structure and Local Plan, while government policy is to stimulate the exploitation and development of renewable energy resources only "wherever they have prospects of being economically attractive and environmentally acceptable". CPRW therefore concludes that as the adverse visual effects of the proposal will be both significant and harmful to interests of acknowledged importance it should, on balance, be correctly and safely recommended to members of the Planning Committee for refusal of permission. It is contrary to the planning policies of the Authority while at the same time being consistent with its longer term obligation to secure appropriate development of renewable energy in line with the Government's target.