Councillors agree Nant Mithil LIR but concern raised that the development is not in a pre-assessed area for energy projects
Wind turbine developments should be kept to pre-assessed areas of Powys a senior councillor has stressed
At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Planning committee on Thursday, February 12, the Local Impact Report (LIR) on the Nant Mithil Energy Park proposal by Bute Energy at Radnor Forest near Llandrindod Wells came before councillors which includes 30 wind turbines that are up to 220 metres in height.
The planning application is being dealt with by Welsh Government Planning Inspectors at PEDW (Planning and Environment Decision Wales) as it is classed as a Development of National Significance (DNS).
This means that Powys council is a consultee and not a decision maker.
At the meeting planning officer Julian Edwards took councillors through the LIR contents.
The report is the authority’s chance to feed into the consultation process and explains what Powys planners think planning inspectors should consider when deciding the application.
This includes advising PEDW and the developers of any secondary planning consents that may need to be applied for in the future.
In the LIR the council does not give a formal opinion on the proposal but outlines whether aspects of the development would be either positive, neutral or negative
On the whole the report shows that there are 16 negative outcomes for the county if the development goes ahead with only five positives noted.
Councillor Corinna Kenyon-Wade (Liberal Democrat – Knighton and Beguildy ) asked why the site was not in a pre-assessed area for energy projects?
These are parts of the country that have already been investigated and are deemed to be capable of accommodation large-scale onshore wind energy development in an acceptable way and there is a presumption in favour to approving applications.
The site is on the boundary of one of these areas.
Cllr Kenyon-Wade said: “The Welsh Government had an initial scoping report and included this site originally and then excluded it on the grounds that it is of high landscape importance – is that correct?”
Mr Edwards: “It does fall outside the area, it’s a decision that was reached by the Welsh Government, this current proposal has arisen since that amendment.”
Plaid Cymru group leader, Councillor Elwyn Vaughan said: “It’s not good having applications outside the pre-assessed areas because it’s like us having an application for a housing development outside the Local Development Plan.
“That’s why I feel so many members of the public are quite cynical about these procedures, it’s not good practice.
“There’s a feeling that the pre-assessed areas have been torn up and thrown out of the window and that’s why we’re getting proposals left, right and centre throughout the county.”
He believed the pre-assessed areas which come from the Future Wales Act should be used as a planning tool for these types of development so that ‘everybody knows where they stand’.
“You know what developments are in the pipeline and what can be done, otherwise it’s just the Wild West.”
He wanted the LIR to include a line that said the council believe that energy projects in Powys should be kept to the pre-assessed areas as a “matter of principle.”
But development team manager Gemma James argued against adding this to the document.
Mrs James said: “We have policies on renewable energy and in that it does state within or close to a strategic search area.
“We have considered this and this site does fall close to the search area.
“There is a wider debate for planning inspectors and the Welsh Government minister to consider.
She added that councillors could send their own comments raising these wider points on the scheme should they wish.
“Today we are very much focussed on the LIR and that’s the remit we need to stay within,” said Mrs James.
After two hours of discussion councillors went to a vote – which saw 12 councillors vote to agree submitting the LIR to PEDW and one councillor abstain.
The consultation period on the project finishes on, Monday, February 16.
Bute Energy say that the proposal would generate 198MW (Mega Watts) of clean, green energy, that’s enough to power the equivalent of between 130,000 and 193,000 homes every year.
