Montgomeryshire will unite to take on energy giants

Mywelshpool has been told that a meeting described as “vital” to the future of Montgomeryshire is expected to send the strongest message yet to power chiefs that the area will do whatever it can to block controversial energy plans.

 

Every local town and community council has been invited on April 1 to discuss the billion-pound plans that will turn Mid Wales into the energy backyard of Britain.

 

And one community councillor, who asked not to be named, believes that a clear and united message will be delivered to SP Energy Networks that its Mid Wales Connections Project is not welcome here.

 

“I have spoken to councillors from other towns and villages and there is a lot of anger towards these proposals,” he said. “The scale of the project has only recently come to light and it has come as a massive shock to many, even to those that once supported wind farms. I am sure we will all agree to fight these plans to the bitter end. We can’t do it as individual councils, we have to unite.”

 

The Montgomeryshire Local Council Forum will be chaired by Welshpool Town Council and its Town Clerk, Robert Robinson, said: “This is a vital meeting for the future of our countryside. I am hoping that every town and community council will be represented and have their say.”

 

Last month we revealed that around a dozen new windfarms, a 19-acre substation (similar to the one pictured above) as well as miles of cables and pylons will be plonked on Montgomeryshire to deliver power into the National Grid.

 

It’s timing coincided with claims showing that windfarms produced next to nothing in terms of power during the cold winter, which has further provoked local anger with residents labelling them as “useless”.

 

Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies said the proposals “rape the Montgomeryshire countryside” while TV weathergirl and local resident Sian Lloyd added that it will “turn the area into Britain’s scrap yard”.

 

Protest groups HALT and STOP are believed to be uniting their campaigns and a round of public meetings and consultations are planned over the coming month.

 

The developers say the project is crucial to meet the growing needs for power in the UK over the next generation as oil and coal power is gradually scaled back.