Welsh fight wind farms plan for mountains

By Chris Gray

The Independent

02 April 2002

For the pioneering ecologist Sir George Stapledon, the "shapely outline" of
the Cambrian Mountains was of such beauty that any intervention by man would
constitute a criminal offence.

The peaks of mid-Wales were to him the perfect location to site Britain's
first National Park, an idea of combining conservation and development that
Sir George was energetically promoting in 1935.

His view was shared by the Countryside Commission in 1972, when it
designated the Cambrians a National Park, stating that the rolling
moorlands, wooded valleys and gorges were some of "the loveliest" in the
country, "equal in beauty to existing national parks" and embodying the
"spirit of Wales".

But the commission's designation never achieved government confirmation and,
30 years later, Britain's "forgotten National Park" is facing development
plans that would have infuriated Sir George.

The Council for Protection of Rural Wales says the suggestion that the
Cambrians should be used for two of the biggest wind farms built in Britain,
one the largest in Europe, is "a declaration of war" on the mountains.

The first proposal, which came from an Enron subsidiary, Enron Wind, was for
39 turbines, each *100ft high,at Cefn Croes, below Plynlimon mountain. It
was given provisional government approval in what the Bishop of Hereford,
John Oliver ­ the Church of England's environment spokes-man and a man not
noted for resorting to hyperbole ­ called an act of vandalism equivalent to
the Taliban's destruction of the ancient Buddhist statues of Bamiyan in
Afghanistan.

The second plan for 165 turbines 400ft high, proposed by an organisation
called the Camddwr Trust would, in the Bishop's words, impose a power
station of "totally alien industrial character that would provoke national
outrage if sited in the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales or the Peak
District".

The proposals have split village communities scattered around the mountains,
who are divided over the wind farm's effect on tourism, as well as
environmentalists who are torn between supporting renewable energy sources
and protecting a unique landscape.

The failure to confirm the Countryside Commission's National Park
designation meant the Cambrians never developed their tourism potential. But
many villagers now see the move as stifling the only industry likely to
revive the area after foot-and-mouth and agricultural depression.

To Peggy Litford, who runs a bed-and-breakfast in Cwmystwyth close to where
the first wind farm at Cefn Croes would be seen, the developments would be a
death knell to an already struggling tourist industry. "We have had
foot-and-mouth and the turbines will completely kill us off. People ... come
here to escape from urban surroundings and industry and they don't want to
see an industrial power station," she said.

Dave Ormerod, a retired BT engineer from Chester who settled in the area
after taking early retirement, denied accusations that much of the
opposition was nothing more than "nimbys" refusing to accept the need for
renewable energy. "Nobody wants them and the powers-that-be think this area
does not matter because there's nothing here. They're nimbys as much as us
and there's more of them than us."

However, another hotelier, who did not want to be named given the strength
of local opposition, said wind farms could actually bring tourists to the
mountains. "If they are marketed properly as a centre for green energy they
could attract visitors. They won't harm the wildlife; sheep can still graze
round them, birds can still fly past them."

A nearby hydroelectric project had involved "drowning" a house and a chapel,
she said, whereas the wind farms harmed nothing except a view that was often
obscured by mist anyway. Those opposing the schemes risked damaging the
tourism they claimed to support by repeating the message the landscape would
be destroyed, she added.

Gerry Jewson, director of the Renewable Development Company, which is behind
the Cefn Croes development, insists that stopping the wind farms would
damage more than the landscape. "There is no evidence to suggest that wind
farms put off tourists. The harsh reality is that the mid-Wales economy is
in decline through foot-and-mouth, agricultural problems and tourism
dropping off.

"The developments could revitalise some of the local villages and stop some
of the depopulation that is taking place." He accepted the number of
permanent local jobs could be no more than seven, but said that was "quite a
lot" in such a rural place.

However Martin Wright, head of the campaign against Mr Jewson's development,
argues that a post-war consensus that exceptional landscapes are worth
preserving would be shattered. "People in London don't know this area exists
but if they came here and saw it they would not believe what is about to be
done.

He added: "This is a lost National Park, and we would not accept these
developments in the Peak District so we should not accept them here."


* Correction. Should read ³100 metres high².