Youth leader says wind farm “opportunity too good to miss”

The potential for a new wind farm to fund local services is “an opportunity too good to miss,” according to a youth centre project leader.

Dave Brunton, of Senghenydd Youth Drop-in Centre (SYDIC), spoke with passion at its recent annual general meeting and spoke positively about Bute Energy – the company behind Twyn Hywel Energy Park.

The proposed wind farm of 14 turbines, to be built on land between Senghenydd, Nelson and Cilfynydd, could be up and running by 2025 if approved by the Welsh Government. The area is already designated by the Welsh Government as suitable for a wind farm.

SYDIC, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, has faced significant financial challenges in recent years and was even facing closure before the pandemic.

It had developed its own plans for a wind turbine to generate money, but these plans fell through over finances. Bute Energy has now secured SYDIC’s rights for this, ensuring support for the youth centre.

Nearly £700,000 a year in funding will also be made to community groups over the next 45 years if the project goes ahead.

Mr Brunton said: “They’ve talked to the community, everything has been upfront. There’s never been any hidden agendas. People have talked frankly, and we’ve tried to get the best deal from both sides and I think that’s fair.

“If Twyn Hywel comes to fruition, it could provide a lot of support for a lot of people in this area. According to the facts on the website, it’s enough energy there to fuel 81,000 households. Nearly £700,000 a year is going to come into the communities around this area for them to develop their own services or activities or whatever.

“The total [community benefit] is £30 million, for about 40 to 45 years’ worth of turbines for this area.

“Now can we throw that away? Can we afford to get rid of that? By utilising some of that funding, we can match-fund to other funding pots and make it more.

“So, it’s an opportunity that I think is too good to miss. I’ve worked with these guys on the project for about three years. I found them really good, upstanding people.”

Professor George Nash, a specialist in rock art from the University of Liverpool, has previously raised concerns over the impact of the new wind farm on the area’s history.

His comments followed the verification of a cup-marked stone in Llanfabon, on the boundary of the proposed energy park, earlier this year.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales has echoed these concerns.

Bute Energy has insisted the wind farm has been “designed to avoid impact on known historical and archaeological features, including the Llanfabon stone”.

Environmental concerns have also been raised by a department of the Welsh Government with claims the wind farm could damage the soil on which it is built.

As reported by Nation.Cymru, the Soil Policy and Agricultural Land Use Planning Unit of the Welsh Government’s Department for Climate Change claims the application is contrary to existing planning policy.

The unit’s submission to a planning consultation says: “The Department does not consider acceptable provisions for the conservation and protection of peat can be achieved, and the proposal lacks detail for the effective site restoration of mineral soils.”

Matthew Haughton, Bute Energy’s project manager, told Nation.Cymru that the objection was “from one specialist team within a Welsh Government department, rather than the Welsh Government or a department as a whole.”

A decision on the wind farm is expected by September 2024.