Mynydd Brombil
17th October 2012
Following a meeting with representatives of the developers, Aberavon’s two Labour representatives, Dr Hywel Francis MP and David Rees AM, have both re-iterated their opposition to the application for a wind farm development in Port Talbot. Developers have submitted a planning application to site 5 wind turbines on top of Mynydd Brombil above Margam, Port Talbot.
Dr Francis said:
“There is already sufficient energy generation within the area from a mix of generating methods including biomass and wind. We believe that this is one development too far. Current proposals and existing generating stations will result in almost 1 GW of energy being generated within a very small area of Port Talbot and we must now focus upon attracting industry and creating jobs which are sustainable in the long term rather than further wind farm developments”.
Mr Rees said:
“We were also concerned by the impact that such a development would have upon the tourism trade that is being developed in Port Talbot and that its siting would have an impact upon any investor or visitor approaching the town from either East or West, whether by rail or along major roads . We are seeing work being undertaken to open up the town for business investment, highlighted by the development of Harbour Way from Margam to the dockland area, and it's time we now focused upon job creation”.
Additionally, they have expressed deep concern over the possible creeping expansion of this development by other applications. The current pre-application of two turbines to the east highlights this concern and will undoubtedly impact upon the attraction of Margam park
Both also stressed that they were very concerned over the proposed route for access to the development particularly with the large number of lorries and possible large loads that will traverse the proposed route.
Mr Rees said “the route that was identified to us at the recent meeting with the developers is one which I believe is unsafe for these loads and which will create great difficulties for local residents and road users.”
