Newspaper Coverage: Neath AM calls for wind farm benefit rethink

From the Neath Port Talbot Guardian

"NEATH AM Gwenda Thomas has criticised the way a £32,000 windfall from an energy giant has been distributed.

nPower Renewables own and operate the 16-turbine Ffynnon Oer wind farm on land between Glyncorrwg and Resolven.

As part of the deal to build the wind farm, the company agreed to set up the Fynnon Oer Community Fund, which will donate £32,000 a year to local communities for 25 years.
At present, £22,000 of this cash is handed over to the Afan Valley Forum, which spend the money on projects in Glyncorrwg, Cymmer and Croeserw.

The remaining £10,000 is distributed by Resolven Community Council.
But Ms Thomas says the neighbouring Pelenna ward, which includes Tonmawr and Pontrhydyfen, should also qualify for a grant.

Ms Thomas criticised the way the area had been excluded from the scheme when it had, she said, been “significantly affected” by the development.

She went on to question whether the company had considered the distribution of the Ffynnon Oer fund cash in a clear and objective way.

In a letter to nPower’s community benefits officer she wrote: “I think it is important that if communities are to support the imposition of wind farms in their vicinity then these communities must be convinced that there will be a fair distribution of the benefits involved and not an arbitrary distribution by the company.”

From the South Wales Evening Post

A Row has blown up over the sharing out of a cash windfall in the Neath and Afan valleys.

Energy giant nPower Renewables owns the 16-turbine wind farm at Ffynnon Oer, between Glyncorrwg and Resolven.

It has set up a fund which will invest £32,000 every year for a quarter of a century in local regeneration and community projects.

The Afan Valley Forum will oversee £22,000 a year for the benefit of Glyncorrwg, Cymmer and Croeserw, while Resolven Community Council will distribute £10,000 around the village.But Neath AM Gwenda Thomas said the Pelenna ward should also qualify for a share of the available cash.

"This community is, in my view, significantly affected by the wind turbine development," said Mrs Thomas.

"The Pelenna ward has been affected as much as other communities that have been selected to benefit from the trust fund, and yet it has been excluded."

Mrs Thomas has now written to nPower Renewables calling for Pelenna to be included.

She wrote: "If communities are to support the imposition of wind farms in their vicinity, then these communities must be convinced there will be a fair distribution of the benefits involved and not an arbitrary decision by the company."