Media Release: 3^rd July 2024

Welsh Countryside Charity Challenge Bute Energy On Proposed Nant Mithil Wind Farm In Mid Wales

CPRW, the Welsh Countryside Charity, has submitted a formal objection against the proposed Nant Mithil Wind Farm in Mid Wales.

The Brecon and Radnor CPRW branch forwarded their submission last week. The branch is leading the campaign to stop Bute Energy’s projected 31 turbines covering the Radnor Forest in southern Powys.

Bute Energy’s Statutory Public Consultation on the proposed Nant Mithil Wind Park closed on Tuesday 25^th June.  Bute presented 145 different documents, some well over 100 pages long, arranged on their website in a bizarre way which the public found almost impossible to follow.

Christine Hugh Jones, CPRW Brecon & Radnor Branch, said: “The gaping hole in the entire body of documents was the deliberate failure to describe the combined impacts of the Bute plan for the Radnorshire Hills.  Nant Mithil depends on a 60-mile transmission line, mainly overhead on pylons, to near Carmarthen.  This transmission line is part of an integrated plan for three wind farms.  Nant Mithil is only the first. 

Bryn Gilwern and Aberedw Hill wind farms will bring the total number of giant turbines of up to 220m high to around 70.  The four projects are described together on the Green Gen website leaving no doubt that they are parts of a single plan from a single source.  Other Bute projects are already listed in the DNS process, just after Nant Mithil in the queue, but Bute has invented its own rules.  Any project which had not made a full application to PEDW by 19th December 2023 is “scoped out”.  This conveniently excludes Bute’s own projects – not only Bryn Gilwern and Aberedw Hill and the associated Power Transmission line but also Banc Du and Rhwilas wind farms, near Llanidloes, which Bute was specifically advised to include”.

Jonty Colchester, CPRW Brecon & Radnor Branch and CPRW Chairman, added:“Remember, we have no experience of turbines of this size in England or Wales.  We cannot imagine their impact on our intimate Radnorshire landscape of hills and valleys scattered with farms, small communities and traditional market towns, so very different from the Scottish uplands where the first 200m British turbines started operating in late 2023.  The notorious Hendy turbines which still lie idle are only half the size. The purpose of a Statutory Public Consultation is for the local population to see what is being proposed: they have been shown only one part of the picture.”

CPRW thinks Bute is defying the advice given in the Scoping Direction.  The public have been completely misled in this public consultation.  There should be another Statutory Public Consultation with full transparency about the Bute plan for the Radnorshire Hills, setting out the cumulative impacts on our landscapes, natural environment and communities.

To view the full CPRW submission, visit cprw.org.uk/stop-nant-mithil-wind-farm-radnor-forest-powys/

Ends

Notes to Editors

• For further information please contact: Caroline Conway, CPRW on 07731567488 or via email [email protected]
• CPRW was founded in 1928 making it the oldest rural charity in Wales. The charity is passionate about creating a countryside which works for everyone, aims to protect wild spaces for the next generation and to enable a sustainable rural community for all.
• Developments of National Significance – The public are grappling with the relatively new Welsh Government planning process for strategic infrastructure or “Developments of National Significance”. In this process, the project outline is submitted to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) for a “Scoping Decision” and shown to the public to gather their views.  The Scoping Decision advises the developer about the environmental impacts the Planning Inspector will expect to see worked up for the final application.
• The Developer then notifies PEDW that they will make a full application within the year which kick-starts the Application phase. The first event is the Developer’s own Statutory Public Consultation on a draft Application for a project already modified according to the PEDW Scoping Decision and the early public responses.
• Image credit: Nant Mithil future photoshop image credit Nigel Dodmam