{"id":9985,"date":"2025-07-20T09:07:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T09:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/9985\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T09:07:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T09:07:15","slug":"village-stages-peoples-consultation-against-bute-energy-wind-farm-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/9985\/","title":{"rendered":"Village stages ‘people’s consultation’ against Bute Energy wind farm plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Photo from Hundred House \u2018people\u2019s consultation\u2019 by Peter Barnett<\/p>\n

Martin Shipton<\/p>\n

More than 200 people flocked to a small Powys village to voice their anger at plans to build a massive wind farm on neighbouring hills which they fear would overwhelm the community.<\/p>\n

While would-be developer Bute Energy held a \u201cdrop-in event\u201d in Hundred House village hall about its plans for 18 giant turbines on Aberedw Hill, residents from the village and surrounding areas attended a \u201cpeople\u2019s consultation\u201d taking place outside.<\/p>\n

With the aid of huge signs displayed on various items of farm machinery, along with a drumming band and a loudspeaker blaring out the sound of a wind turbine, they aimed to send a message to the company about the strength of feeling against its proposals. Many lorry and car drivers hooted their support as they drove past.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

RE-think<\/p>\n

Organised by the campaign group RE-think and local residents, the alternative \u201cpeople\u2019s consultation\u201d attracted support from other campaign groups who travelled from as far away as Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Montgomeryshire to be there. The Mayors of both Builth Wells and Llandrindod Wells, Cllr Mark Hammond and Cllr Steve Deeks-D\u2019Silva, were present.<\/p>\n

The groups set up their own stands on a private car park across the road, with displays and people on hand to discuss the extent of Bute Energy\u2019s proposals both locally and across Wales, and how they believe they would affect communities and the environment.<\/p>\n

At one stage everyone loudly chanted: \u201cStop Bute Energy, our hills are not for sale,\u201d and then formed a line along the pavement to reflect the length of the proposed turbine blades at around 80 metres.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo Peter Barnett<\/p>\n

Local resident Natalie Barstow said: \u201cWe organised the people\u2019s consultation to give local communities a space to speak openly, something Bute\u2019s consultation process doesn\u2019t allow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not opposed to renewables, but we are opposed to corporate exploitation of Welsh land and communities. It was a powerful day of solidarity, with people from across Wales coming together to stand up for the places they love.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI think it went incredibly well. People turned up and stood together openly discussing the true impacts of this project. There was a clear and growing sense of frustration that too many of our elected representatives are failing to engage with what\u2019s really happening on the ground. If they continue to ignore the voices of their communities, they will be remembered for their failure to act.\u201d<\/p>\n

RE-think campaign lead Jenny Chryss said: \u201cIt was beyond our wildest expectations that so many people would turn up today to show their support and to voice their anger and concern about these proposals. That strength of feeling must surely now be clear to Bute. People are beginning to understand the extent of its proposals both here in Radnorshire and across the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe turbines that Bute intends to build are bigger than almost any yet onshore in the UK. Methods of measuring the effect they will have on communities are largely out of date and what is in place was designed for much smaller infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for what? Onshore wind turbines are inefficient, producing less than 30% of their capacity, and don\u2019t work when the wind doesn\u2019t blow. Operators get paid to turn them off when there\u2019s too much wind, and we\u2019ve just heard that this system is soon to become even more attractive to the generator at the expense of energy bill payers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBute Energy is proposing up to 16 of these so called \u2018energy parks\u2019 across the region, despite it becoming increasingly obvious that only a sensible mix of viable renewable energy schemes using differing technologies will actually get us anywhere near \u2018net zero\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeanwhile these proposals would leave some local residents staring up at 200-metre-high turbines on hills that are even higher, working or not depending on the weather. The energy they produce will go straight to the national grid with nothing in it for the people of Wales except for some ungenerous and divisive so-called community benefits which would represent only a tiny fraction of the money that the Bute Energy Group shareholders would take away.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Excellent wind resource\u2019<\/p>\n

Bute Energy states on its website: \u201cThis site has been identified as having excellent wind resource and good site access. We\u2019ve undertaken extensive site and desk-based technical studies as well as environmental feasibility assessments to help us demonstrate that the site is optimal for renewable energy generation.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We are] seeking to deliver an energy park which will provide approximately 120MW of clean, green energy using the latest wind turbine technology \u2013 enough to power between 86,000 and 113,000 homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed development includes 18 wind turbines with a maximum blade tip height of 200m, turbine foundations, crane hardstanding and laydown\/storage areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe site will have access tracks and an electrical substation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be temporary construction and storage compounds and borrow pits on site during construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposals have been updated following the results of surveys and feedback received from the community and key stakeholders as part of our earlier consultation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve altered our site design to:<\/p>\n

Reduce potential shadow flicker and noise at nearby properties;<\/p>\n

Reduce development on common land;<\/p>\n

Minimise impacts on landscape, visual amenity and historic features; and<\/p>\n

Minimise impacts on the watercourses across the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proposing to upgrade an existing road junction and highway to the wind farm site to minimise the amount of new development on Aberedw Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve selected a substation location near the A481 which will be designed to look like a farm shed and will create an easier connection to the grid. This will have its own upgraded access from the A481.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve agreed our aviation lighting scheme with the Civil Aviation Authority and complies with Ministry of Defence guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to producing the cleaner, greener more sustainable energy needed to tackle the climate emergency, Aberedw Energy Park will deliver significant benefits to the local community.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor every megawatt of energy that Aberedw Energy Park has the capacity to generate, there\u2019ll be \u00a37,500 invested in the local community. This will see an annual Community Benefit fund in the region of up to \u00a3900,000 each year over the lifespan of the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Community Benefit Fund will be administered through an independent charitable entity to support local communities to create legacy projects, support charities and groups and to improve services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fund is also linked to the Consumer Price Index to allow for economic inflation and to future proof the funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cInformed by engagement with local people and stakeholders, community benefit funding will focus on creating healthier, wealthier communities by supporting recreational, health and wellbeing improvements, enhancing local education offering and identifying more pathways into employment for local people. It will also highlight opportunities to celebrate and promote local culture, heritage, and biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Support our Nation today<\/p>\n

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\n the people of Wales.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo from Hundred House \u2018people\u2019s consultation\u2019 by Peter Barnett Martin Shipton More than 200 people flocked to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-9985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}