Concerns as wind farms planned for communities

A sign on the edge of Abergorlech declares it was the best-kept village in Carmarthenshire for four years between 1964 and 1970, a time when, by far, most of the UK’s electricity was generated by burning coal.

- RICHARD YOULE & ANTHONY LEWIS

Abergorlech, by Brechfa Forest, still looks a picture - resident Patrick Brotherton described it as “a paradise” — but when it comes to electricity the times they are a-changin; as Bob Dylan sang in 1964.

A privately owned wind farm operates on the western side of Brechfa Forest, which is popular with walkers, horse riders and mountain bikers, and now 27 turbines have been proposed by a publicly owned company - Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru.

A map indicating where this new Glyn Cothi wind farm would be located shows the majority of the turbines in the central and eastern section of the Welsh Government-owned woodland in the hills above Abergorlech. There is also another wind farm, Alltwalis, on land west of Brechfa Forest.

Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru announced plans early in July for three state-backed wind farms in Wales, and talking to people in Abergorlech and nearby Brechfa about the Glyn Cothi one, views are, once again, mixed.

The Reverend Canon Delyth Wilson, of Abergorlech, said: “We seem to be bombarded in this beautiful part of Wales by these turbines. I am keen that we are more sustainable, but these things are going to be really high. I don’t think we will see them, but I don’t know if we will hear them.

“And how are they going to get them here on these tiny roads? That is perhaps my main concern.”

Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru is proposing to run a wire from the wind farm on wooden poles to a new substation planned near Llandyfaelog, between Carmarthen and Kidwelly, and Mrs Wilson wondered if the route would follow the Cothi Valley.

“The Cothi Valley is a gem,” she said.

When Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru was launched last summer, Welsh Economy Secretary Jeremy Miles said it would generate significant returns for people in Wales - previous energy projects have often led to profits going to foreign companies.