Residents jubilant as Valleys windfarm refused

The Planning Inspectorate Wales rejected Pennant Wind Energy Ventures Ltd's appeal against Blaenau Gwent council's decision to refuse planning permission for four 328-foot high turbines on Mynydd James between Blaina and Cwmtillery.

Residents responded to the plans by forming Save Coity and Mynydd James (SCAM), consisting of more than 100 residents and backed by Nantyglo and Blaina Commoners Association.

The two groups raised £9,000 to fund environmental expert Geoff Sinclair to represent them in an eight-day planning inquiry held in April and May.

Blaenau Gwent council had estimated that a two-day hearing would have cost it around £100,000.

SCAM member Derek Jones, whose Blaentillery Farm is just 500 metres from the proposed development site, said: "I'm over the moon, it would have drastically affected us. If an old man could do somersaults, I'd have been doing them."

SCAM was concerned about the windfarm's effect on the landscape, the impact noise would have on local residents and its effect on ground stability.

In November 2008, a special meeting of the council's planning committee unanimously rejected the plans.

This went against the recommendations of its own planning officers, who proposed approving them in principle and referring it to the Assembly for a final decision, so developers appealed the decision.

Pennant Wind Energy Ventures Ltd, which worked on the project with Eco2 Ltd, said the windfarm would have brought £2 million worth of local construction contracts and £500,000 for community trust funds.

Chief executive of Eco2, David Williams, said the turbines would have saved more than 11,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions over their 25-year lifetime and met over 40 percent of the area’s renewable energy targets by generating 5.2 mega watts of electricity.

Mr Williams added: "It is hugely disappointing that our project has been refused."

'Voice of local people heard loud and clear'

Inspector Andrew Poulter's review said the turbines would be an "unattractive intrusions into a cherished wild landscape, and an unwelcome reminder of the damage done to the local environment by the coal industry in the past" to residents.

He concluded there were compelling reasons to dismiss the appeal due to the effect on the landscape and residents' living conditions.

Council leader and Blaina ward member Des Hillman said: "Following a full and extensive public inquiry the result is that the voice of local people has been heard loud and clear."

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Windfarms- It’s about balance

WE are happy for the people of Blaenau Gwent who have won their battle to prevent the windfarm development between Blaina and Cwmtillery.

The protest group SCAM (Save Coity and Mynydd James) fought hard to resist the building of four 328-foot high wind turbines on local hillsides and employed an environmental expert to represent it at an eight-day planning inquiry in April and May.

Now the planning inspectorate for Wales has rejected the windfarm company’s appeal against Blaenau Gwent council’s refusal to give planning permission for the project 18 months ago.

We have to be honest and say that, with some reservations, we support the building of wind turbines at selected locations. We think it is quite right that wind power is harnessed, particularly as stocks of fossil fuel are diminishing.

But it has to be admitted that no one would like to look out of their back window to see ­ and hear ­ these monsters only yards from their homes.

Nevertheless these turbines should be built on selected sites. We have advocated building them beside motorways and on similarly developed places.

At some point soon, our descendants will depend on sustainable energy sources for their heating and lighting and it is important we start to create that infrastructure now.

Having said that, we would never want to see the imposition of windfarms in places where they would radically reduce the quality of life for local people or destroy cherished sites of natural beauty. It’s a question of balance.