Turbine puts the wind up council (From South Wales Guardian)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting SWG NEWS to 80360, or email
us
Turbine puts the wind up council
10:00am Saturday 29th September 2012 in News
LLANDOVERY town councillors say they share the concerns of protesters objecting to plans for a wind turbine on the hills above the town.
Rumours are rife that plans for a 35m turbine situated at Pen-y-Gaer Farm are about to be submitted to Carmarthenshire county council.
Town clerk Henry Caldecote stressed that the application had not been registered at County Hall yet.
“So in practical terms it does not exist,” he added.
Cllr Robin Ennion said he was aware of 63 letters of objection.
“I’ve no objection to windfarms offshore – they are no worse than oil rigs from which this country has made millions,” he added.
“But I object to windfarms on a site of natural beauty. I can’t believe there’ll be sufficient windfarms in twenty to thirty years to generate sufficient electricity for this country.
“Once you put up one on a hill you’re on a slippery slope. I’d hate to see them ruin the vista of our rural hills.”
Cllr Ennion said he also feared a turbine could affect low-flying in the area as well as its natural habitat.
Fellow councillor Nigel Burgess commented: “You do not need to be a scientist or an engineer to know that windfarms do not work.”
The meeting was attended by Dr Kate Boothy who is coordinating opposition towards the turbine.
johnsouthwales says...
8:56pm Sun 30 Sep 12
THE PLANNING APPLICATION FOR THE TURBINE AT PEN-Y-GAER HAS BEEN SUBMITTED. IT IS FOR A LARGER TURBINE THAN SPECIFIED IN THE ORIGINAL SCOPING DOCUMENT. IT IS NOW 61 METRES TOTAL HEIGHT (INSTEAD OF 52.7 METRES) AND 500 KW INSTEAD OF 33O KW.
then again, the original hub height is 37m which is close enough......but
carmarthenshire cc website:
the development is regarded as schedule 3 project under EIA regulations in that the hub height of the turbine exceeds 15m. In this case, EIA is ony required only if the proposal is judged to give rise to significant environmental effects.
Consultation has taken place within the council to determine whether EIA is required. It has been concluded EIA is not required for the proposed development.
The application is not 'live' as such.yet
And when they say that the hub height is NOT to exceed 15m, technically they could have gone to 52m hub and 17.5m blades if they wanted to (making it 70m overall) but as the website has mentioned 61m overall height, i take their word for it....
The visual impact would increase greater with 61m, the access will stay the same.. They usually have a slightly longer blade when they increase a height. It sounds like a 43m hub height with 17m blades.