BRECHFA FOREST WEST WIND FARM Consultation Report Document Reference BFW/AppDoc12/Consultation Required document as set out in Section 37(3)(c) of the Planning Act 2008 Produced October 2011- RWE Npower Renewables Ltd BRECHFA FOREST WEST WIND FARM CONSULTATION REPORT CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Foreword 1 1.2 The Developer 2 1.3 The Proposal 3 1.4 Site location 4 1.5 Role of a Consultation Report 5 2. Section 42 6 2.1 Prescribed persons 6 2.2 Local authorities for the purposes of Section 42(b) 8 2.3 Persons within one or more categories set out in Section 44 9 2.4 Section 44(c) is not relevant to the Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm proposal 10 2.5 Section 42 comments summary table 10 2.6 Summary analysis of Section 42 responses 12 2.7 Detailed responses 13 2.8 Meetings 98 2.9 Section 44 99 3. Section 47 103 3.1 Statement of Community Consultation 104 3.2 Local Authority’s comments 105 3.3 Community Liaison Group 107 3.4 Visits to local residents 108 3.5 Newsletters 109 3.6 Presentations 110 3.7 Telephone calls 111 3.8 Exhibitions 112 3.9 Documents available for viewing 115 3.10 Feedback forms 116 3.11 Summary of feedback received under Section 47 117 3.12 Feedback forms 123 3.13 RWE NRL response to summary feedback 126 3.14 Letter summaries and responses 140 BRECHFA FOREST WEST WIND FARM CONSULTATION REPORT CONTENTS 4. Section 48 151 5. Section 49 152 6. Conclusions 154 7. Glossary 155 Appendices Appendix A Summary of Section 47 responses 157 Appendix B List of prescribed bodies 186 Appendix C Letter to Section 42 consultees 190 Appendix D Letter to Section 42 consultees 194 Appendix E Reminder letter to Section 42 consultees 196 Appendix F Letter from Hoare Lea Acoustics to Carmarthenshire County Council 198 Appendix G Meeting minutes– statutory consultees 210 Appendix H Statement of Community Consultation 251 Appendix I Newsletter 1 253 Appendix J Newsletter 2 257 Appendix K Newsletter 3 265 Appendix L Exhibition boards 273 Appendix M Feedback form 297 Appendix N Section 48 notice 307 BRECHFA FOREST WEST WIND FARM CONSULTATION REPORT 1 1. INTRODUCTION FOREWARD 1.1 FOREward 1.1.1 RWE Npower Renewables Ltd (RWE NRL) is a responsible developer with a long and successful track record of consulting and engaging with local communities during the development phase of wind farm proposals. 1.1.2 The Planning Act 2008 (“The Act”) introduced a new approach and new requirements for promoters to engage in pre-application consultation with local communities, local authorities and those who would be directly affected by their proposals. 1.1.3 These changes have required RWE NRL to build on its previous consultation experience and established company practices to ensure compliance with the Act. In undertaking pre-application consultation for the Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm, RWE NRL has fully embraced the spirit and letter of the pre application consultation requirements of the Act. 1.1.4 Whilst the formal section 47 consultation for this wind farm proposal ran between 10th February 2011 and 6th April 2011, RWE NRL has been in ongoing dialogue with local communities since March 2009. 1.1.5 This report outlines how a variety of approaches have been utilised to engage with the local communities. These approaches have included community liaison groups, newsletters, public exhibitions, one to one meetings, a project website, making documents available for viewing free of charge at local locations, and the provision of designated points of contact for the project. 1.1.6 Section 42 consultation ran to the same deadline (i.e. 6th April 2011) as the Section 47 consultation. Engagement with a number of the prescribed bodies has taken place for some time (both pre and post formal consultation) and has continued throughout the development of the project. This report outlines which bodies were consulted and how this consultation was undertaken. 1.1.7 This report summarises the responses received from both section 42 and section 47 respondees and explains how the comments have been taken into account and, in the event they were not taken in to account, the reasons for this. BRECHFA FOREST WEST WIND FARM CONSULTATION REPORT 2 THE DEVELOPER 1.2 THE DevelOper 1.2.1 RWE NRL, a subsidiary of RWE Innogy, is the leading developer and operator of renewable electricity generation projects in Wales. 1.2.2 RWE NRL operates a wide portfolio of projects in Wales including 7 onshore wind farms, the UK’s first major offshore wind farm at North Hoyle (North Wales), the Rhyl Flats offshore wind farm and 7 hydroelectric projects in and around the Snowdonia National Park. 1.2.3 RWE NRL is also strongly committed to developing future renewable electricity projects in Wales to meet the growing demand for renewable electricity. The Company has a pipeline of around 600MW of onshore wind farms at different stages of development including the Brechfa Forest Wind Farms (East and West), Clocaenog Forest Wind Farm, and Carnedd Wen Wind Farm and Habitat Restoration Project. 1.2.4 RWE NRL’s operational portfolio in Wales is also set to expand with the construction of the Gwynt y Mor offshore wind farm. The Company has Section 36 determination for this, the Company’s 3rd offshore development off the Welsh coastline. Onshore preparatory works for this project started in 2009 (the civil engineering contractor is Ruthin-based Jones Bros), with project completion anticipated in 2014. The Company is also currently developing the 1500MW Atlantic Array project (under the Crown Estates Round 3 development licensing round) located in the Bristol Channel circa 15 km south of the South Wales coast. 1.2.5 RWE NRL is part of RWE Group – one of Europe’s largest energy companies, with 70,000 employees across Europe. RWE is currently one of the biggest investors in Wales, with around £1bn worth of committed investment and a development pipeline in Wales worth around £7bn. 1.2.6 RWE NRL currently employs more than 75 people in Wales. With its continued investment in projects in Wales, the Company has the potential to create thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly. 1.2.7 More information about RWE NRL can be found at www.npower-renewables. com and site specific details on the Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm can be found at www.npower-renewables.com/brechfaforest. BRECHFA FOREST WEST WIND FARM CONSULTATION REPORT 3 THE PROPOSAL 1.3 THE PROPOsal 1.3.1 In 2008, RWE NRL was awarded the rights to seek planning permission to develop a wind farm in Brechfa Forest in Carmarthenshire, South West Wales. The woodland is managed by Forestry Commission Wales (FCW) on behalf of the Welsh Government and lies within the administration of Carmarthenshire County Council. 1.3.2 Brechfa Forest is located within one of seven areas (Strategic Search Areas) designated by the Welsh Government for the development of large scale wind farms. These areas were specifically identified as suitable for such development within the Welsh Government’s land use planning guidance Technical Advice Note 8 (TAN8, 2005). 1.3.3 RWE NRL is proposing two wind farms in Brechfa Forest, Brechfa Forest East and Brechfa Forest West. A planning application for Brechfa Forest East Wind Farm was submitted to Carmarthenshire County Council in 2010 for 12 turbines (expected installed capacity 24-36 MW). This application is undetermined at the time of writing (October 2011). 1.3.4 The proposed Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm comprises 28 turbines and will have an installed capacity of 56-84 MW (subject to the capacity of the turbines constructed). In addition to the turbines, the proposal also includes the: – Construction of approximately 9.1km of new onsite access tracks and the upgrading of 12.7km of existing forestry access tracks; – Construction of an onsite substation, hard-standing areas, external transformers, underground connecting cabling and one permanent wind monitoring mast (separate planning permission has already been sought and granted for two temporary met masts which were installed in April 2006 and August 2008 respectively); – Creation of two temporary construction compounds; – Creation and working of one new borrow pit for the extraction of stone for use on site. 1.3.5 Pursuant to sections 14(1)(a) and 15(2) of the 2008 Act, an onshore wind energy electricity generating station in England or Wales having a capacity of more than 50 MW is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (“NSIP”). 1.3.6 Section 31 of the 2008 Act provides that a development consent order is required under that Act for development that is or forms part of a NSIP. BRECHFA FOREST WEST WIND FARM CONSULTATION REPORT 4 SITE LOCATION 1.3.7 As the proposed Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm is an onshore wind energy electricity generating station with a capacity of between 56 and 84MW, it is a NSIP for these purposes and any application for development consent must be made to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (“IPC”) under section 37 of the 2008 Act. 1.3.8 For the avoidance of doubt, this Consultation Report focuses only on the consultation and engagement that took place as part of the development of the Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm. 1.4 SITE LOcatiON 1.4.1 The proposed wind farm site is located within Brechfa Forest, 10km northeast of Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire in South West Wales. The site itself is located on a ridge of land forming the southwestern tail of the Cambrian Mountains.