Welsh Government suspends consultation on 30-turbine energy park

Welsh Government planners have suspended the consultation process on a planning application for an Energy Park, to review redacted information and manage inspector availability over the festive period.

In turn this means that a Powys County Council Planning meeting where councillors were to receive a Local Impact Report (LIR) on the Nant Mithil Energy Park proposal by Bute Energy at Radnor Forest, that was to take place tomorrow (Friday, December 19) has been cancelled.

The proposal includes 30 wind turbines that are up to 220 metres in height.

The planning application is being dealt with by Welsh Government Planning Inspectors at PEDW (Planning and Environment Decision Wales) as it is classed as a Development of National Significance (DNS).

This means that Powys council is merely a statutory consultee on the application.

The consultation was supposed to end on December 23.

PEDW said: “The consultation for this application has been suspended as of December 17, to allow PEDW to review availability of redacted information, and due to the holiday period and Inspector availability.

“Consultation will resume in January.

“All representations received to date will still be processed but any submitted after December 17, won’t be published until January.”

Powys council said: “Correspondence has been received from PEDW confirming that the application by Nant Mithil Energy Park Limited has been suspended.

“The (planning) meeting will be rescheduled once further confirmation has been received from PEDW.”

Correspondence published on the PEDW website show that dozens of objections have been lodged by residents against the development.

These include submissions by James Evans (Conservative) the Senedd Member for Brecon and Radnorshire, and Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat) the Powys Council Leader.

The LIR is the council’s opportunity of feeding into the process and explains what Powys planners think Welsh Government Planning Inspectors should take careful note of when deciding the application.

This includes advising PEDW and the developers of any secondary planning consents that may need to be applied for

On the whole the report shows that there are 14 negative outcomes for the county if the development goes ahead with only four positives noted.

Bute Energy responded to the Powys LIR and have accentuated the positives that arise from the scheme.

Bute Energy said: “The report recognises the need for the Energy Park to provide a resilient, cleaner energy source.

“Benefits include the improvement of access, recreation and enjoyment opportunities and benefit to local ecology, including the Radnor Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and delivering a net gain for biodiversity within the site.

“The report also found the construction impacts of the project, impacts on common land, ground conditions as well as the specific species where potential for significant effects were identified (such as) bats, badger, otter, newts and fish, to be neutral.

Bute say the energy park would generate enough power for up to 193,000 homes a year and contribute up to £2 million a year for essential public services through business rates.

Bute Energy are also committed to providing Community Benefit Fund, worth £1.5 million a year for the local community.