What are the positives of having a massive wind turbine farm at Nant Mithil?
Are there any positives in having a massive wind turbine project in Powys, a councillor has asked
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 Planning and Environment Decision Wales as it is classed as a Development of National Significance (DNS).
The LIR is the authority’s chance to feed into the process and explains what Powys planners think planning inspectors should take careful note of 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 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.
Councillor Angela Davies (Liberal Democrat – Rhayader) said: “Having gone through the report and thinking of this from a different angle, are there any points in here that are positive for the residents of Powys?”
Planning officer Julian Edwards replied: “Within the context of the LIR there are positive aspects which are based around the principle for renewables and economic benefits.
“The applicant will outline what they feel to be the economic benefits.”
It is expected that the negative and neutral points in the LIR will be addressed and nullified through the DNS process.
Mr Edwards said: “What we have to understand is that the determination process will now be in the hands of PEDW and we need to be confident that the planning inspector look at those areas and address them.
Committee Chairman Councillor Gareth D Jones (Powys Indepdents – Llanfair Caereinion and Llanerfy) said: “When looking through this report it’s predominantly negative and neutral and that reflects the opinion and feeling of this committee that have been expressed here.
“Understandably there is a lot of tension and high feelings about this development – we’ve been asked to look at this report and to comment on whether we feel everything has been covered.
“I feel we have addressed most aspects here and we’ve had answers to questions we’ve asked.”
The committee moved to the vote which saw 12 votes for the LIR and one councillor abstain.
The LIR will be sent to PEDW as part of the consultation period on the project which finishes on, Monday, February 16.
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.
The five positives in the LIR would be:
The need for the facility.
The need to produce clean renewable energy.
Developing the site would include improvements to horse bridleways there
Improvement to the site would provide benefits to the local fish population.
The Radnor Forest SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) habitat would improve.
