8:30am Friday 6th July 2012
LLANDYBIE community councillors are weighing up the pros and cons of having a wind turbine in their patch, following the revelation the proposed structure near Maesglas Road, Penygroes, would be 16m smaller than what was originally planned.
Applicant Alan Davies, of B J Fuels Ltd, argues the turbine would fulfil increasing demands for renewable energy, but local residents claim it would blight their community.
Referring to the 35 people employed by the family-run company, Cllr Pat Tiddy said the council had “an obligation”
to maintain employment.
“On balance, this turbine would sustain a local business,” he said. “It would give added security to those jobs. We’ve had a number of major employers in the village who’ve wound up.”
However, Cllr Bryan Rees maintained the views of local residents were paramount. “If the local community are against a scheme like this is it not our obligation to back them up?” he asked.
Cllr Peter Roberts suggested people were more accustomed to seeing turbines on distant hillsides. “The concept of having one among us is perhaps the difficult part,” he added.
County councillor Alun Davies said while he was opposed to wind turbines, the application in question was not “a large-scale windfarm”, so hewas keeping a more open mind.
“I’m concerned about nighttime noise and shadow flicker,”
he said. “The other side of the coin is that we also have to consider the matter of jobs in the area – there are two sides to this argument.”
The council deferred their decision on the amended plans until their September meeting.
© Copyright 2001-2013 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk
http://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/trade_directory/