SWALEC TRIES CILCIFFETH AGAIN
South Wales electricity utility SWALEC has reapplied for consent to build a wind farm at Cilciffeth in Pembrokeshire, west Wales, despite its previous application being resoundingly defeated almost a year ago. The company has revised its plans to take account of some of the objections which led the local planning authority to reject its earlier application unanimously in July 1995. Visual intrusion, particularly on the nearby Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, was an uppermost concern of the Preseli councillors when considering SWALEC's original scheme. The new plan is for fewer turbines -- 26 compared to the 41 proposed originally, but this time the company is looking at 600 kW machines instead of the 500 kW size. It has also for the moment shelved plans to develop part of the site at Trenewydd, which has a separate power purchase contract under the NFFO. "We felt that at the moment we should concentrate on getting Cilciffeth through planning, especially considering the nature of views against wind power generally particularly in that area," explains SWALEC's Mike Paffey. Meantime, SWALEC awaits the outcome of its appeal against the council's earlier decision. "We still stand by our original proposal, but at the same time we felt we could try an alternative approach," he says.