Council questions who should pay for road damage from windfarm development

Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter 

Should windfarm developers be liable for picking up the cost of any damage they make to the highway network, a senior councillor has asked.

At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Planning committee on Thursday, October 2 councillors were given an update on the windfarm developments that are currently under way in the county borough.

These schemes are classed as Developments of National Significance (DNS) and are processed by Welsh Government Planning Inspectors at PEDW (Planning and Environment Decisions Wales).

This means that Blaenau Gwent is a consultee rather than decision makers and eventually the inspector will produce a report that will recommend how a Welsh Government minister should decide the application.

Energy giant

In October last year plans by German renewable energy giant RWE went live.

RWE want to build wind turbines with a maximum height of 200 metres on land between Abertillery and Abersychan.

The site includes parts of Mynydd James and Gwastad Common and straddles the local authority boundaries of Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen county borough council.

Back in March, Blaenau Gwent planners said told the committee that the Local Impact Report (LIR) had been lodged with PEDW and they believe the windfarm would have a “negative” effect on the county borough.

Processing the application had been put on pause from March to September 22 – but has now restarted.

Last week PEDW said that the hearing into the application has now been shelved.

The inspector will now base their report on the information that has already been provided in the documentation.

At the meeting, leader of the opposition Independent group Cllr Wayne Hodgins (Brynmawr) asked whether the council’s Highways team had “input” on the application.

Cllr Hodgins wondered whether there would be any opportunities for a section 106 agreement to be placed on any potential planning permission.

This would mean the developer would need to pay out some form of community benefit.

Excessive traffic

Cllr Hodgins said: “As an authority we are paying out vast amounts of money at present on the highway network in this particular area.

“When this development gets fully underway it’s going to have excessive traffic.

“Do we still have that opportunity to engage with developers?”

Development Management Team Leader Joanne White said: “Highways have been consulted at every stage going back 18 months to two years.”

She said that she would “try and find out” if there was any possibility of further negotiations.

Cllr Hodgins said: “We’re trying to protect our infrastructure as it will take a heck of a beating.”

Committee Chairwoman Cllr Lisa Winnett (Labour – Blaina) suggested that Cllr Hodgins go on the PEDW website to read up all the comments that had been made on the roads as there had been “a lot of concerns.”

Cllr Winnett said:  “As for monies, PEDW is in charge and only a small part of the journey is in Blaenau Gwent.”

Development Management Team Leader Helen Hinton said: “PEDW usually place a condition which requires a condition survey of the highway network to be undertaken before they start bringing the abnormal roads through.

“The emphasis is on the developer to justify the surface of the road before and after construction and they are responsible for making sure there is no detriment which can be significant for them if there’s any repairs they need to undertake.”

While a developer could not be expected to pay to upgrade the road network, Ms Hinton assured the committee that it can’t be left in a worse condition “as a result of their deliveries and things.”

The latest information from PEDW on the application explains that a report would be expected to be given to the relevant Welsh Government minister by December 5 – and a decision would be announced a few weeks later.

RWE say that the wind farm has the potential to generate power equivalent to the needs of approximately 50,000 homes.