Shropshire Star

Turbines will go up in Mid Wales

Seven giant wind turbines will rise in the Powys countryside despite concerns that they will damage the setting of four scheduled ancient monuments.

Published
A wind turbine

Proposals for the turbines, which will stand 110 metres high close to the A44 trunk road near Llandegley, near Llandrindod Wells, have encountered a storm of local opposition.

But a judicial review, brought by the environmental body, the Campaign for Rural Wales, over granting of permission, was dismissed by a High Court Judge in London this week the latest in a series of u-turns over the plans.

The company behind the scheme, Hendy Wind Farms Limited, was originally refused planning permission by Powys County Council. However, following a lengthy public inquiry, planning inspector, Hywel Wyn Jones, recommended in March last year that the company's appeal be dismissed.

Mr Jones said in his report that the wind farm would be capable of providing renewable energy to over 12,000 homes and reducing carbon dioxide levels in the air by almost 27,000 tonnes a year. But he said that the benefits of the project were outweighed by the harm it would cause to the local landscape, the setting of the iconic Llandegley Rocks and views of important prehistoric and medieval remains.

Overturned

His decision was overturned by the Welsh Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, who granted planning permission for the wind turbines in November.

She said that while the wind farm would have "a significant impact" on the monuments, she disagreed with the inspector's conclusions and said there were "exceptional circumstances" justifying the development.

The Campaign for Rural Wales mounted a judicial review challenge to Ms Griffiths' decision - but the case has been dismissed by a senior judge. Sir Wyn Williams rejected arguments that she misunderstood what is meant by 'exceptional circumstances' or that her decision was irrational. He said that Ms Griffiths had chosen her language very carefully and clearly understood the importance of preserving scheduled ancient monuments.

The judge said: "There was no dispute about the benefits of the proposal. Whether those benefits constituted exceptional circumstances was, quintessentially, a matter of judgment for the decision-maker."

The reasons Ms Griffiths' gave for approving the project were "adequate and sufficient", the judge concluded.