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LATEST NEWS:
Yet another wind farm proposed for Mynydd Maen (READ MORE HERE!)
Email to PEDW about multiple proposals for Mynydd Maen (with reply)
LATEST ON MYNYDD MAEN PROPOSAL
RES have now submitted their full planning application to PEDW and it is awaiting validation. There has been some delay because of the sheer number of proposals currently being submitted. It could be validated any day now so please be ready to object!
The proposals include 13 massive turbines 150m high; over twice as high as Cwmbran’s iconic 22 story block of flats. (There will be another 4 turbines on the Newbridge side, this is called the Trecelyn Wind Farm).
We have created this website to inform people about the proposed Mynydd Maen wind farm. Scroll down for more.
We all support renewable energy but we believe each project needs to be applied in ways that are sensitive to those environments that we are hoping to save. Is this the right scheme in the right place? Read on and spread the word!
Click on images to enlarge
Construction of each turbine will involve large machines removing the peat and all vegetation, and digging a flat area of about 1.5 acres for each of 13 turbines. Peat, soil, subsoil and rock will be piled around the area as is shown here, ruining many acres of the sensitive habitat for many years, probably forever.
In addition RES propose the digging of three “Borrow Pits”, or quarries, to get stone for the roads. These are going to be a lot bigger that the excavation for each turbine,
8 kilometres of new tracks with drainage will be required to take the heaviest of loads. Peat and subsoil will have to be removed and piled alongside. In addition there will be 8km of cable trenches, an electricity substation, a maintenance yard and parking.
Each turbine base requires about 1000 tonnes of concrete and 165 tonnes of steel. Concrete will be mixed off site and transported up through Pantside housing estate, Newbridge
After about 25 years (the typical service life of a turbine) only the top of the concrete will be removed and it will be covered with earth/peat etc..
If both wind farms are approved there will be 51 long loads like this accessing the mountain via Central Avenue and Old Pant Road in Pantside housing estate and then on to Abercarn Mountain Road. In addition there will be at least 100 or more heavier loads (pieces of the towers, the nacelles (hub and generator), heavy plant, cranes and transformers, in addition to thousands of concrete lorries, construction workers cars and so on.
In Pantside it will be necessary to remove handrails, traffic islands, lamp-posts; flatten a roundabout etc, and ban parking on much of the route.
Abercarn Mountain Road suffers a worse fate, it will be decimated, unrecognisable. Trees and recently restored drystone walls will have to be removed in the lane and the lane will be widened and then diverted onto new wide gravel tracks in adjacent fields for much of it’s length.
Quote: “FOLLOWING THE WIND FARM CONSTRUCTION PHASE, WIDENING WORK WILL BE REINSTATED AS SOON AS REASONABLY PRACTICABLE. IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT A REPLACEMENT BLADE IS REQUIRED DURING THE OPERATIONAL PHASE, WIDENING WORK WILL BE TEMPORARILY REOPENED, AND REINSTATED FOLLOWING REPLACEMENT COMPLETION.”
It is not unlikely at all that one or more new turbine blades will be required during the lifetime of the wind farm, so, if the road is reinstated then all this will have to be done again! In any case when the wind farm is redundant, in say 25 years, how will all the components be removed from the mountain without one again decimating the lane!
The turbines will be heard! RES will tell you they are within the industry standards but those standards are out of date and not fit for purpose!
Click on image or https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=787870016090863
and see Mr Patrick O’Brien talking about….
The harsh reality of living near wind turbines
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View the Pre-Application Consultation Documents
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Although RES have had two public consultations, it is clear that many people still do not know of any proposals and most of those that do know are very unaware of the true scale of the project.
Many people felt that the information offered at these consultations is or was very limited, calculated to gloss over the negatives, and that answers to questions were, shall we say, “circumspect.”
Express your views here or email us if you want to contribute to this website.