Power station application "should be called in" (From Western Telegraph)
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Power station application "should be called in"
4:10pm Saturday 5th May 2012 in News
An application for a diesel-fired peaking plant at Trecwn should be called in by the Welsh Government, according to the local branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW).
The charity’s Pembrokeshire branch has written to planning minister John Griffiths asking him to give his personal consideration to the number of hours of operation granted as part of the proposals.
Planning permission for the plant, which is to be located at the former RNAD Valley and includes 11 diesel generators, was granted by Pembrokeshire County Council on April 17th.
The charity has requested action as a condition allows the plant to be operated up to 500 hours per year, despite a Pembrokeshire County Council planning report stating its anticipated use would only be around 75 hours.
The chairman of CPRW Pembrokeshire, Mary Sinclair, described the creation of the 500 hour condition as “like a rabbit out of a hat”.
“The 500 hours came out of the blue and is not documented anywhere in the application material, nor are its environmental consequences assessed,”
she said. She also questioned its legality.
“If they had applied for 500 hours the application would have needed an environmental impact assessment,” she claimed.
Figures from the council report said that existing plants were used for an annual total of 114 hours in 2008 and 95 hours in 2009. The CPRW has asked for the maximum operation limit to be 85 hours per annum.
Ms Sinclair also has a number of other “serious causes of concern”, outlining how the pollutants produced from the plant’s two 20m stacks emerge at the same height as nearby houses.
“The pollutants will not then disperse but hang about on the valley floor and sides for residents to breathe,” she added.
Last week the Western Telegraph reported how Trecwn resident Guy Wood, who suffers a rare medical condition, said he and his family will be forced to move from the area if the plant is built at the site.
