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Latest News >> Action Group News >> Brechfa Forest
The Threat to Brechfa Forest
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January 13, 2011:
Planning
Application for BRECHFA
Proposal
for 12 turbines on Forestry Commission and private land between Rhydcymerau and Abergorlech
called “Brechfa Forest East” – up to 145m/476ft high
|
Description: |
PROPOSED ERECTION OF TWELVE (12) WIND TURBINES TO FORM A SCHEME KNOWN AS 'BRECHFA FOREST EAST WIND FARM', THE PROPOSAL WILL ALSO INCLUDE NEW TRACKS, UPGRADE OF EXISTING TRACKS, ANEMOMETRY MAST, SUBSTATION, BORROW-PIT AND OTHER ASSOCIATED DEVELOPMENT. |
|
Address: |
|
|
Date
Opened: |
13 Jan 2011 |
|
Application
No: |
E/24195 |
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Status: |
current |
You
can see the full paper documents at the Planning Offices in
Also
at the Community Shop in Brechfa, nowhere else.
RWE
Npower’s website:
In
any letters, ensure you quote the Application Number and that you receive
an acknowledgement from the County Council - if you don't get an acknowledgement
[usually a postcard] then chase it up as it may have got lost in the system.
Petitions only get counted as ONE in number terms, NOT the number that sign it.
Letters to:
Eifion Bowen, address given below.
At
the County Council, the civil servant dealing with this application is:
Richard
Jones, Development Control Officer, (01267) 224844 - REJones@carmarthenshire.gov.uk
Richard Jones
says “The
closing date is 9th March 2011, but as explained previously we will log
objections / observations up to the point of determination.
Notwithstanding this every effort must be made to get representations in before
9th”
December 17, 2010: Llanllwni Planning Application
| Description: | PLEASE NOTE: THE CONSULTATION PERIOD WILL
EXPIRE ON 23 FEBRUARY 2011
21 WIND TURBINES (3 BLADED VERTICAL AXIS) TO A MAXIMUMBLADE TIP HEIGHT OF 127 METRES WITH ASSOCIATED ELECTRICITY TRANSFORMERS, UNDERGROUND CABLING, ACCESS TRACKS, ROAD WIDENING |
|---|---|
| Address: | LAND SURROUNDING BRYN LLEWELYN, LLANLLWNI, CARMARTHENSHIRE, SA39 9ED |
| Application No: | E/23947 |
| Online Ref: | 0 |
| Date Opened: | 14 Dec 2010 |
| Status: | current |
Eifion
Bowen
Carmarthenshire
County Council
40
Spilman Street
Carmarthen
SA31
1LQ
November 5, 2010: Llanllwni Public meeting
The Llanllwni Community Council held a public meeting on Thursday 25 November at 7.30pm in Llanllwni Community Hall.
September, 2010: Current Developer Plans for Brechfa Forest
The RES application for Llanllwni Mountain has changed its name to Bryn Llewellyn and moved date to Feb 2011. RES will now be submitting an application for 21 turbines mainly on the open Common Land - as this would be below the 50MW size requiring IPC approval, the application would go straight to the County Council - probably in late autumn. RES held exhibitions on October 7th and 6th to present their proposals and "consult" with locals at the following locations: Capel Nonni, Llanllwni and Llansawel Hall.
The area of Brechfa Forest targeted by RES is shown in red on the map below:
The proposed locations of each of the 21 turbines is shown as red dots on the following map:
July 29 re: Red Kite death reported from Alltwalis
The following letter was published in the Cambrian News, July 29.
|
Madam, Re: the controversy over the discovery of a
dead Red Kite on Alltwalis Wind Farm near the base of one of the
turbines.
Statkraft director Sergio Castedo stated in the
Cambrian News, "It is important that the truth and facts behind
this incident are communicated”. That is fair enough, but to claim
that, 'Red Kite not killed by Alltwallis wind turbines' is
disingenuous. This is not an established fact, it is not
proven.
Nowhere in vet’s report does it state, "the red kite was not killed by the turbine", instead the veterinary surgeon states, “the exact cause of death was unable to be detected”, and that, “trauma would seem unlikely in light of the radiographic evidence.” Is it not rather unlikely that the only cause of harm/death due to a turbine would be a direct strike? The sudden drop in air pressure and increase in air pressure close to a turbine in operation could cause internal injuries and flight problems in itself. Imagine the effect of falling off a ship and being churned in the water from a propellor, the pressure changes would probably do as much damage as a direct strike. Red Kites don't generally drop out of the sky and die, but this one did and was found with dried blood stained around its mouth near the base of one of the Alltwallis turbines. I believe this established fact is significant. Other people can draw their own conclusions. Given
that Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM has written to Carmarthenshire County Council
urging them to, “use the powers available to them to shut down the
wind farm” until Statkraft resolve the noise and flicker problems
being experienced by some residents in Gwyddgrug, may I suggest that
this would be a good idea such that the residents of Gwyddgrug can get a
good nights sleep, and that the red kite can fly free without fear of
being struck down by these massive industrial icons to green
consumerism. Tim
Shaw |
“I am totally outraged that genuine concerns that have been brought to the attention of Statkraft have been ignored and the company are refusing to take responsibility for the distress they are causing my constituents. I have made it clear to the Director of Statkraft that I am very angry about their position and I will not accept a situation where nothing will be done. I have recently spoken to a constituent who informs me that she made complaint about the noise and flicker levels at night only to be informed that nothing can be done until the morning. This is totally at odds with Statkraft’s claims that the concerns are important to them.I have written to Carmarthenshire County Council urging them to use the powers available to them to shut down the wind farm until a point is reached when Statkraft resolve the problems that are being experienced as a result of noise and flicker issues. This situation simply can not continue.”
“It is for exactly this sort of reason that Rhodri and I have been campaigning for the establishment of a 2k buffer zone to be established for wind farm developments. We have had some productive discussions with the Council about it and we will be pursuing them with the government."From: www.jonathanedwards.org.uk/calls-for-alltwalis-wind-farm-to-be-shut-down
June, 2010: Red Kite death reported from Alltwalis
A visitor to Alltwalis on June 11th found a dead kite under one of the turbines
March, 2010: The Brechfa Forest Energy Action Group now has its own website. Click here.
February, 2010: Current Developer Plans for Brechfa Forest
We believe that RWE-Npower plan to apply for permission to install 28 turbines at "Brechfa Forest West", the Mynydd Tre Beddau site uphill from the Alltwalis turbines. Due to the size of this installation the proposal will be handled by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC).
RWE-Npower also plan for 12 turbines at "Brechfa Forest East", the area north of Abergorlech on the top of the Llanllwni mountain. The size of this proposal is such that it will be handled by the Carmarthenshire County Council planners. Click here to see a description of these proposals on Npower's website.
RES have applied for a monitoring mast at Banc Melyn near Bryn Llewelyn farm. Their plans may be for over 30 turbines which means that proposal would also be handled by the IPC. This indicates that Npower and RES may be working together. Click here to see a map of the SSA G with the locations of the monitoring towers marked in red.
Tips for the public – how to have your say!
November 12, 2009:
Faulty blades at the newly installed Blaengwen (Alltwalis) wind farm
Local residents tell us that twelve blades will have to be replaced due to faults. The new ones will be slightly smaller than the originals. They were informed by the developers in a letter on Friday, November 6.
This 10-turbine wind farm near Pencader in Carmarthenshire was completed by October 2009.
Click here to see photographs from the construction site.
November 1, 2009:
Article by Andrew Gilligan Published in the Sunday Telegraph,1 November 2009 Uproar over new planning rules to help build wind farms and nuclear power stations Radical changes to the planning system to help build wind farms, nuclear power stations and new roads are likely to cause a storm of protest across Britain, Andrew Gilligan reports. “Powerless: opponents of the wind farms of Brechfa and Lanllwni feel they are being ignored and “pushed out of the way.” The small Welsh village of Brechfa, about ten miles north-east of Carmarthen, has lost its post office and pub – but, if two power companies have their way, it will soon be getting 76 new wind turbines. Each will rise as high as 145 metres, the height of a 35-storey building, and they will ring the area, making it home to the third-biggest collection of turbines in Britain. There are ten nearby already. Up close, the noise they make is like an idling aircraft. For the full article go to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/planning/6475795/ Uproar-over-new-planning-rules-to-help-build-wind-farms-and-nuclear-power-stations.html |
October
2009: Brechfa Forest Wind Farm "Community Liaison Group"
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Background:
The
ancient Brechfa
The forest has been identified as Strategic Search Area G in TAN8. Click here to see the Ordnance Survey map of the forest and a map of the area as shown in the TAN8 document, Click here to read more about TAN 8, the purpose of which is to adopt new planning guidelines that will facilitate the development of locations for wind turbines in Wales.
In a subsequent document issued by the Carmarthenshire planning department in 2006, the area for wind turbine development is extended outside the TAN 8 SSA G (shown by the solid red line below). The extended area, as defined by the document and shown below by the dotted red line, covers 135 square miles, extending south almost to the A40, west of the A485 to Llandysul, north to the A482, and east to the B4802, near Talley. Obviously, wind farm development in this area will have an affect on all of us in Carmarthenshire. Wind turbines will be visible for many miles and bring dramatic changes to the local landscape. The Forestry Commission has chosen Npower as the preferred developer.
Click here for an article that appeared in the October 2006 edition of The Post, a local community magazine published by PostDatum, Llandovery, Carmarthenshire.
Latest information (July 2009) from Npower is that
32 turbines are planned for the Mynydd Tre Beddau site uphill
from the Blaengwen
turbines. Npower have had approval for a monitoring mast due to go up possibly in
August 2009.
11 turbines are planned in the area north of Abergorlech on the top of the Llanllwni mountain. RES have applied for a monitoring mast at Banc Melyn near Bryn Llewelyn farm. This indicates that Npower and RES may be working together. Click here to see a map of the SSA G with the locations of the monitoring towers marked in red.
On July 30, 2009, a meeting was held in Abergorlech to inform local residents of the threat and to discuss the situation. More than 100 people attended. On September 3, a second meeting was held in Llansawel with a similar attendance.
On Wednesday, November 4th, a third meeting was held at 7.30pm in the Brechfa Church Hall to inform local residents of the threat. About 50 local residents attended.
The mountain bike routes near Abergorlech on the Forestry land are being targeted by RWE- Npower for 11 of the 43 turbines on top of Brechfa Forest. They could be up to 145 metres high. Click here to join the blog on this subject.
It is now clear that the construction of turbines at Blaengwen near Pencader on the western edge of Brechfa Forest will facilitate access to the rest of the forest for developers. Click here to see photos of Blaengwen (now called Alltwalis) wind farm while under construction.
For more details contact the local campaign organiser at admin@brechfaforestenergyactiongroup.com
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