Plans for a replacement 334-foot-high wind turbine in Pembrokeshire, which saw local council objections and concerns by the Met Office about a potential impact on weather radar, have been withdrawn.
In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Surrey-based Constantine Wind Energy Limited, which manages some 200 turbines throughout Great Britain, sought permission for a 102-metre-high wind turbine at Sarnau Farm, near Trelech.
The application would replace an existing 45-metre-high turbine, granted permission in 2014.
In a supporting statement, Wilmslow-based agent Axis PED Limited said the applicant has full agreement with the landowner to install a larger turbine, adding: “The proposed development would increase the generation output by more than 209 per cent of the current output supporting an estimated 318 average households’ energy usage, which is an estimated additional 211 homes than the existing turbine on the site.”
It said visual impact would be “outweighed by the beneficial contribution the replacement turbine would make in the transition away from fossil fuels and the ability to meet UK Net Zero targets in line with the Government’s commitments”.
Local community council Clydau strongly objected to the proposal, raising concerns including the size is more than double that existing, and potential visual and noise impacts.
The council’s objections added: “The health and wellbeing of those living closest to the proposed turbine was of great concern; uppermost in councillors’ minds was the fact that the proposed turbine would be of no benefit whatsoever to the local community. It was noted that properties closest to the turbine would be devalued.
“Councillors hope for an outcome to the above application that benefits the local community; most especially those living within close proximity. This can only mean a firm ‘No’ to the proposal.”
The Met Office raised concerns about the impact on the nearby Crug-y-Grollwyn weather radar, just over four kilometres away.
“A key requirement for the Crug-y-Grollwyn weather radar is to provide advance warning of severe weather and real-time information which is vital to the continued operation of military and civilian aviation as well as to forecasters in UK (as part of the UK Weather Radar Network).
“Wind turbines have been shown to have detrimental effects on the performance of Met Office weather radars. These effects include the blocking of radar data in the vicinity of the turbines and the creation of false ‘clutter’ returns which can imitate or obscure real precipitation signals.”
It added: “The proposed new turbine will therefore be more than double the height of the existing turbine and will be visible from and in direct line of sight of the Met Office weather radar.
“As such the new turbine will be visible in the main beam of the radar causing unacceptable interference and degradation to data derived from Crug-y-Gorllwyn weather radar.”