SPECIAL planning meetings will need to be organised if Blaenau Gwent planners want to feed in to the process that decides applications for big wind turbine applications – and to be paid for it.

Several applications for wind turbine developments have been lodged with the Welsh Government’s Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) department and will be dealt with as Developments of National Significance (DNS).

In this instance the council is a consultee rather than decision maker, with the Welsh Government deciding the application. The authority is expected to provide a local impact report as part of the process.

These reports are a factual statements that explain the issues and planning policies that relate to the development.

The council will also submit its views on the development – for, against or neutral position.

If this is done within a five-week timescale the council would receive part of the application fee paid to the Welsh Government.

Later in the process councillors can give their opinion on the scheme.

At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Planning Committee on Thursday, January 12, councillors were told that the deadline for the first local impact report had already been missed and the fee forfeit.

On November 23, the clock started ticking on the application by Pennant Walters Ltd to build eight wind turbines between 170 and 180 metres high at Mynydd Carn y Cefn west of Abertillery.

Planning officer, Joanne White said: “Mynydd Carn y Cefn is the one that’s progressed the furthest and is currently live and we’re dealing with.

South Wales Argus: Mynydd Carn y Cefn Wind Turbine proposals by Pennant Walter Ltd

“Public consultation is being carried out by PEDW.

“We have missed out on the fee as we intend to bring the local impact report to committee in February for members to view and ratify.”

Committee chairwoman Lisa Winnett said that the timescale to submit the report to PEDW had: “included the Christmas holidays.”

Cllr Winnett said “There was no way our officers could get that report written and ratified in the timescale.

“We’re trying to make sure we don’t lose that fee as there is a lot of work that our officers have to do.”

“On future DNS application we could be calling special planning committees for one item to ratify them (local impact reports).”

She explained that to get the wind turbines DNS application on the agenda for January 12, the documents would have needed to have been lodged with the Democratic Services department before Christmas.

Cllr David Wilkshire said that the non-payment of the fee should be “challenged.”

Cllr Winnett said: “Steve Smith the head of planning did challenge it, sadly there was no budging from the Welsh Assembly (sic) at all.”

Cllr Derrick Bevan said: “You will remember eight to 10 years ago an application was made in the same place for two wind turbines and it got turned down as there are geological faults in the mountain,”

“Now they want to put eight up there which are bigger, I can’t understand how it got this far.”