To Consult (Wind Farms—11)

Consultation is OK if there's something truly to consult on. So, the town council might ask the people of Rhuthun/Ruthin which mayor's charity should it support next year (they don't). Or the police might ask your views on a range of local policing issues (they do). For both, there are alternatives, choices.

On Thursday, the mouthful that is RWE Npower Renewables an RWE Innogy Company (phew!) opened a 56-day formal consultation on the next phase of the Clwyd Power Station, the gigantic wind farms that are emerging like something out of the War of the Worlds on Coedwig Clocaenog Forest above Rhuthun.

But RWE's isn't consultation, it's information. Even were RWE to ask the question "Do you actually want an unsightly wind farm with 32 turbines each 400 feet or so whirling above your head and destroying the tourism potential in your back yard?", do you actually think they would listen if the answer was "No"? And if you think this is something that doesn't affect Rhuthun directly, consider the view from the Clwyd Gate.

The best the upland communities might hope for is in minimising the impact. I doubt very much RWE will ask whether people want a wind farm or not. This was a fundamental question that no one actually appears to have posed. Instead, turbine operators simply fall back on the identification of Clocaenog as a "strategic area" designated for such development. It kinda reminds me of the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy film when, about to blow up the Earth for a hyperspace express route, the Vogons say, "There's no point in acting all surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years so you've had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaints and it's far too late to start making a fuss about it now".

And didn't RWE do exactly the same thing in terms of information, right, back in 2009 and something similar in 2008?

But there is someone associated with our locale who seems to support turbines, as this shot taken at last week's Eisteddfod Genedlaethol in Wrecsam seems to confirm. It's former Ysgol Pentrecelyn head teacher Rhys Meirion.

It's interesting to chart the use of the uplands to the west of Rhuthun. The turn of the 20th century saw much of the land still used for grouse shooting. Local hostelries specialised in board and lodgings for game parties. Then came afforestation on a commercial scale. Both were sympathetic with the landscape, in their way. And in the 21st century, there's more business in power than trees. Or perhaps subsidy. From commercialisation to industrialisation.