Anyone who's done the first two WRT, the Mach 3 or ridden out the back of Nant yr Arian will have been into the hills around Nant y Moch. It's often described as one of the last true wild places left outside of scotland.

Now, regardless of your views on wind farms and 'green energy' I'm sure most people would agree that there are certain places that would benefit from been left alone ... the area around Nant y Moch is one of them but unfortunatly there are plans to build a rather large wind farm there instead. :( complete with pylons and hub.

If you're interested in helping to 'save' the area around Nant y Moch then a visit here-

http://www.nonantymochwindfarm.co.uk/

would be a good starting point.

Thank you.

These wind farms are a breeding force in our countryside for sure :(

I would hate to see this countryside ruined like this, there are plans for a similar scheme on the ridge above my home, what the answer to this I do not know but we need to voice our opinions, thank you for sharing the information Stuart

Unfortunately the places we like to go to get away from it all tend to be perfect places for the development of windfarms, or Wind Parks, as I heard them referred to recently. Forestry Commission are also pressing ahead with large Wales-wide scheme of installing windfarms on some of their forestry sites (including the forestry to the west of Nant-y-moch), so it seems that even forest areas are not safe from such developments. This tends to annoy me more, given that they're using my [tax] money to develop it.

There was a thing in the Sunday times last week about how Chris Hulme said we needed 32,000 turbines in the UK to meet renewable energy targets. There's currently around 3,800 turbines UK-wide.

Vast majorioty of wind turbines likely tobe off shore but they're harder / more expensive to develop so on-shore is easy win at moment and finacial incentives / ROCs stuff makes them attractive to developers. UK is signed up to a "power from renewables" percentage with Europe and so they're trying to deliver that (rightly or wrongly). Application of other technologies is pretty poor and many undeveloped / untried in UK.

Mixed feelings about it myself. Still, when I used to work in Cumbria , coming over Corney Fell Road and cresting the last rise to find the panaroma of the west coast and the glory of Sellafield was always a stirring sight Peraonally view WTs as transient things (only a 25 year deesign life IIRC) and leave behind sub-surface (ish) concrete foundations and access roads / construction pads.

I agree that these wind farms destroy our lovely remote views and although it's green energy it does require those other bits to go with it hubs, pylons and substations.
Now I dont mind the two wind turbs less then a mile from my window and I find them really kool and I'm all go for solar energy and wind power instead of coal and nuke energy, so if you don't want a wind farm at that location would any one dare suggest where else to put it?
I personally think there should be more w/turbines and even put in cities on top of tall buildings and high rise flats a couple to every park and maybe even lining motorways to!

I think in a world of depleating energy some thing that is a eyesore should be the least of our worries.
Now all I'd ask in return is to still have access to the land they are on and to incorporate them some how in to that environment may be camo paint or dewarft firns tree may be even fruit trees to help take that sting out of the eye sore and to do there best to return the surrounding area back to beauty after construction.

Those any one know how much noise they make any way?
Sorry to be controversial

... and to incorporate them some how in to that environment may be camo paint or dewarft firns tree may be even fruit trees to help take that sting out of the eye sore and to do there best to return the surrounding area back to beauty after construction.

Bigger is better in windfarms so they'll almost always be looking to put 90m masts (to nacelle - sp?) and 60m dia blades. That'll give you c.120 to tip at its highest. Think the biggest onshore so far has been 126m. I doubt some fruit trees will soften the visual impact much

I find them quite attractive TBH. although the massive expanses in Germany can be a bit monotonous. It's an awkward call. I do find the fretting some folks do regarding impact to be a bit odd when you compare them to a coal, gas or nuke powered station. Mahoosive great things with a correspondingly immense longterm legacy of ground contamination etc. Don;t even get me started on nuclear waste

Oh dear, I've gone a bit STW

Thanks for the input everyone ... my point wasn't to say that windfarms are a bad thing. It was to try and highlight just how few wild places are left within the UK and how important they are as an outlet for people. Windfarms will be coming in droves and with them the pylons and hubs, I just think that hanging on to the area around Nant Y Moch and leaving it 'unspoilt' would be a good thing for everyone ... regardless of their views or where they live.

Personally, I'd prefer to see more effort into developing tidal or wave power than more windfarms. For example, Avonmouth has the second largest tidal variation in the world. Can't help but think we should be doing something with that, especially as that area is already fairly well industrialised.

Whilst I love the area around Nant-y-moch, and I don't dispute the impacts the development of a windfarm would have visually (compared to current view), I wonder how controversial the flooding of that valley was in 1964 when they created the reservoir?

Looking at it philosophically, are wind farms just a response to the ever increasing need for electricity and/or the desire to reduce carbon outputs in much the same way as the creation of reservoirs were to meet the drinking water needs of an expanding population?

Just make sure they leave a few lying down, they make a great overnight nest :D :D

P1000703 by markenduro, on Flickr