Nothing divides people who consider themselves as 'Green' more than the contentious issue of wind farm construction. More especially in environmentally sensitive areas such as our uplands, coastlines and islands. It's interesting to consider the actual politics surrounding wind farms. Particularly with regard to the planning and appeal process. The UK government and the devolved administrations have been enthusiastic in giving their backing to the energy corporations who have gathered like Garadine swine around a feeding trough the take advantage of the governments largesse and it's appropriate to point out that the vast majority of these companies are based in Europe and the US. Now it’s fair to say with regard to this government that a lot of its policies appear to have been conceived on the back of a fag packet in the local pub. As far as its renewable energy policy is concerned; On the back of a fag packet in the pub after a large brown envelope has been passed under the table by a grateful energy company executive!
Take just one development which typifies the governments’ approach to planning applications and it’s slavish devotion to big business and PR spin, the Wern Ddu wind farm which has just been constructed in the last month in NE Wales between Ruthin and Corwen. This development ostensibly by a locally based North Wales developer called Tegni Cymru Cyf is not quite what it appears to be. Looking at the accounts of Tegni its clear that even I have more money in my bank account than this company and I'm certainly not a wealthy man ! How does a tiny company with absolutely NO financial credibility build multi million pound wind farms and the extensive infrastructure ??? Well that bit is quite easy to explain. Tegni is a convenient front for the giant ‘Germania Windpark’ company. Having a Welsh front is useful of course when pushing through planning applications in North and Mid Wales or pursuing appeals.
The application for four turbines on the beautiful 1500’ saddleback mountain of Wern Ddu was overwhelmingly opposed by local people when the application was made by the company. Every local community council opposed the scheme. Ditto the planning officer who recommended rejection. The Denbighshire Planning Committee did indeed reject the application by 19 votes to 1 and that- if you believe in local democracy- would be that. Not so.! The German developer appealed to the Welsh Assembly, The Assembly sent an UNELECTED civil servant down from Cardiff in the manner of a feudal king who sends one of his bailiffs to read the riot act to the restless peasants in the provinces. Not surprisingly this unelected lickspittle did his master’s bidding and upheld the appeal on behalf of the developer; Presumably after being wined and dined beforehand.
That, I’m afraid, is how the Wind Energy companies play these applications. By attempting to ‘buy’ local politicians through inducements which range from entertaining planning committee members in a local restaurant to promises of financial support for local community projects. Inevitably these projects which offer a mere pittance in relation to the vast profits they make will be guided and controlled by the company itself. So let’s run that by you again. An UNELECTED civil servant-Stuart Wild…let’s name and shame!.... overturned the decision of the locally elected planners who had overwhelmingly rejected the development. Yes I know. .It sounds like the way the planning system works in some Central American banana republic but it really is how things are in the UK 2010.
The government has announced that it will in future circumvent the local planning processes of major developments by letting civil servants and apparatchiks deal with the planning applications at the DTI in London. This would include a huge development near Wern Ddu within Clocaenog Forest. The Spanish company RWE nPower have been given the green light for the creation of a super-farm...actually lets call a spade a spade-It's a massive power plant -which I'm told by my local member of parliament will see three quarters of Clocaenog Forest clear felled. The consequences of this will be a potentially devastating. A catastrophic impactation of the water table with the increased run off which will inevitably cause flooding in the market town of Ruthin which has already suffered damaging floods in the past few years. As if this isn’t bad enough the devestating effects on wildlife is of great concern to conservationists who fear the consequences of industrialisation of the forest.
Apart from the common indigenous species which will have their habitat decimated such as Deer, Foxes, Badgers and birds of prey; rare species like Red Squirrels, Black Grouse and Pine Martens will be pushed to the edge of local extinction. But as Gordon Gecko might have said 'How can I make a lousy buck from a lousy Pine Marten!'
And that really is what the 'Rush for wind' is all about...profits and easy profits at that given the way the government has skewed the market and suspended the economic laws of supply and demand to advantage its corporate chums in the energy industry. Wind Power would be dead in the water without this state manipulation of the market.
Incidentally, The developers of Wern Ddu proudly boast that their four turbines will produce enough electricity for 4.500 homes. Yes....that really is Four and a Half thousand homes ! Abysmal and shameful as that stands it is nothing when you consider that onshore wind turbines operate at 30-40% capacity on average so for 4.500 homes read less than 2000 homes. I know... pathetic isn't it given the huge degradation of the land and massive visual impact in an area of outstanding natural beauty. 'Like taking a Stanley knife to a painting by John Constable' to quote environmentalist Robert McFarlane.Then again, the currency of the wind industry is based on corruption and lies and hides behind public naivety and ignorance. The fact that it has the government in its pocket helps of course !
* Since writing this piece, I learn that one of the Tegni directors has remarkably acquired a large part of the Wern Ddu site. Given the fact that the Germania Windpark company will almost certainly apply for planning permission to erect more turbines on this site and given the fact that landowners receive at least £6k per annum in ground rent for EACH turbine then someone has got themselves a nice little earner !
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