All Hirwaun resident past and present may give evidence that the space has been used for 20 years.

Please supply photographs if possible.

Tuesday 12th may- Friday 15th May, 2009 10-5pm

Evening Wednesday 7pm

Location – At Hirwaun Village Hall, High Street, Hirwaun, See Map here.

The Meeting is at 7.30pm on Wednesday 15th April 2009 at Hirwaun Rugby Club.

Come along to discuss the Development and Future of Hirwaun Village.

All Welcome.

In April 2008 following a tender process run by the Forestry Commission on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government, Nuon was chosen as the preferred developer to look at developing a wind energy project of around 100 turbines on a large area of land managed by the Forestry Commission and owned by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Have your say on this project …

Hirwaun Village Hall

Tuesday 10th February 2009

from 5 – 8 pm.

As part of the second round of public consultation events, another event will be held at Hirwaun Village Hall on Tuesday 17th March 2009. More details of this event will be included in a printed newsletter sent out in February on behalf of Nuon Renewables.

In April 2008 following a tender process run by the Forestry Commission on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government, Nuon was chosen as the preferred developer to look at developing a wind energy project of around 100 turbines on a large area of land managed by the Forestry Commission and owned by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The land stretches from the Upper Afan Valley to the lower end of the Cynon Valley.

There will be an open public event at the following locations :

• Hirwaun Village Hall, High Street Hirwaun. On Wednesday 21st January 2008 between 11.30am and 8.30 pm
• If you are unable to make that event, there will also be one at Coliseum Theatre, Mount Pleasant Street Trecynon on 26 January 2008 between 11.30am and 8.30pm.

For further information, please see the website of Nuonrenewables here http://www.penycymoeddwindfarm.info/

The Meeting is at 5pm on Thursday 9th October 2008 at Sobells Sports Centre, Aberdare.

Where R.C.T. Councillors will be deciding on the Gloucesters/Ironworks site planning application which will have a huge effect on the life of Hirwaun village.

Developers have re-submitted plans to build 130 houses on the Hirwaun Gloucesters and old Ironworks site. This area is much valued and used by the community as an area for recreation and leisure and home to an abundance of wildlife and flora.

Councillors voted to refuse planning permission in July 2008.
R.C.T PLANNING OFFICERS ARE TRYING TO PERSUADE COUNCILLORS TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS & APPROVE THIS APPLICATION

There is a very real danger that councillors may approve this application despite overwhelming objections from residents over the last 3 years.

Planning officers are of the opinion that proposed so called ‘improvements’ to the roads in and around the Church and Post Office which consist of speed bumps, widening of pavements and dropped kerbs will solve the existing problems and accommodate a 61% increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Residents however feel that speed bumps are not a solution – the problems which occur on a daily basis occur at low speed and are due to the sheer volume of traffic which uses the narrow roads in and around the centre of the village. High Street will be gridlocked!

R.C.T. Councillors will be deciding this application at: 5 P.M ON THURSDAY 9TH October 2008 at the Sobells Sports Centre

IF YOU CARE THEN PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT BY ATTENDING THE PLANNING MEETING TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HIRWAUN RESIDENTS WANT A SAY IN THE FUTURE OF THE VILLAGE

The application, submitted by Pennant Walters Ltd. is for the erection of nine wind turbines, an anemometer and associated infrastructure and buildings on land south of the A465 in Hirwaun at Hirwaun Common, Mynydd Cefn y Gyngon and Mynydd Bwllfa.

The turbines are 115 metres high and will generate up to 3MW each of renewable (wind generated) energy.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has objected to the proposed development on the grounds that it would have an unacceptably detrimental impact on the standards of amenity to occupiers of properties in the vicinity of the application site can reasonably expect to enjoy.

It also objected on the grounds of the adverse effect on the use and enjoyment of the Dare Valley Country Park. Pennant Walters has appealed against this decision

The Public Inquiry – which is scheduled to last for eight days – will begin at 10am on Tuesday 14th October 2008 in Hirwaun Village Hall.

All welcome.

Developers have re-submitted plans to build 130 houses on the site which is much valued and used by the community as an area for recreation and leisure and home to an abundance of wildlife and flora.

There is a very real danger that councillors may approve this application despite overwhelming objections from residents over the last 2 years.

Planning officers are of the opinion that proposed so called ‘improvements’ to the roads in and around the Church and Post Office which consist of speed bumps, widening of pavements and dropped kerbs will solve the existing problems and accommodate a 61% increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Residents however feel that speed bumps are not a solution – the problems which occur on a daily basis occur at low speed and are due to the sheer volume of traffic which uses the narrow roads in and around the centre of the village. Hirwaun High Street will be gridlocked!

R.C.T. Councillors will be holding a site meeting in Hirwaun on Tuesday 1st July 2008 to help decide whether or not this development should go ahead.

IF YOU CARE THEN PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT BY MEETING AT THE BUNGALOW AT THE TOP OF LISBURN RISE, BY THE RAILWAY LINE, AT 10.00 A.M. TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HIRWAUN RESIDENTS WANT A SAY IN THE FUTURE OF OUR VILLAGE.

Despite being refused planning permission in April last year, which was further dismissed at an appeal heard by the Welsh Assembly in October 2007, the developers have re-submitted plans to build 130 houses on the site which is much valued and used by the community as an area for recreation and leisure and home to an abundance of wildlife and flora.

There is a very real danger that councillors may approve this application despite overwhelming objections from residents over the last 2 years. Planning officers are of the opinion that proposed so called ‘improvements’ to the roads in and around the Church and Post Office which consist of speed bumps, widening of pavements and dropped kerbs will solve the existing
problems and accommodate a 61% increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Residents however feel that speed bumps are not a solution – the problems which occur on a daily basis occur at low speed and are due to the sheer volume of traffic which uses the narrow roads in and around the centre of the village.

In order for this development to go ahead the developers will insist:

* our roads are made narrower – but what about school buses, delivery vans etc?
* drivers will have to negotiate unpopular speed bumps
* High Street Shops will have to remove advertising signs – so much for regeneration of our village centre
* our post box and litter bin may have to be moved
* our cash point facility at the Post Office may be under threat – amuch needed and an asset to try and help keep our Post Office open

Over 500 residents objected to this proposal last time.

Over 500 residents also responded to the consultation of the emerging local development plan asking that Hirwaun be developed as a tourist area and that the Gloucesters Site be developed into a nature reserve with facilities for walking and cycling which would link up with local cycle networks and the Brecon Beacons National Park. Hirwaun residents have demonstrated that they wish to have a say in the way in which Hirwaun is developed. They are not opposed to the principle of more housing, they want any new housing to be in appropriate locations which do not have a detrimental impact on the roads of the village and do not deprive the community of amenities which have been enjoyed by generations of Hirwaun residents.

The planning application will be heard by the development control committee of R.C.T. Council on Thursday 19th June at 5p.m. at the Sobells Sports Centre.

Residents of Hirwaun who are opposed to this application should make every effort to attend the meeting to show the strength of feeling in the community.

There is a very real danger that councillors may approve this application, please show your support for the future of Hirwaun.

The Application to build giant Wind Turbines across the Cynon Valley was rejected by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in April 2008. The Developer appealed against that decision and this Appeal is being heard via the Welsh Assembly’s Planning Inspectorate.

Martin Smith, Chairman of the Cynon Valley Ramblers, has kindly contributed the text for his talk given to Rhondda Cynon Taf Planning Committee on 1st April at Michael Sobell centre.

Please take the time to read Mr Smith’s eloquent speech. And please act, and have your say.

*

Size matters. The towers proposed at over twice the height of St Elvans steeple here in Aberdare will be sited on one of the most prominent positions in the whole of South Wales. This will have a dramatic effect on the visual appearance of the whole area..

Be in no doubt This installation will become an industrial eyesore.

It will be Seen from a large part of South and mid Wales.

This will be the image and legacy for the valleys for decades to come. These behemoth structures will scream out at every resident and visitor that we do not care about our precious landscape so why should any one else. This will be counter productive on tourism plans which are showing green shoots of development with walking festivals and cycle routes sprouting up. It will also be in contradiction to the councils own actions in working hard to green up and clean up our environment. This eyesore will act as a demotivator to many who are trying very hard to improve their communities.

Any one who has walked from Dare Valley Country Park across the open moorland above Tarren Y Bwyllfa on the Coed Morgannwg way, and thousands do each year, have enjoyed one of the finest areas for walking anywhere. The open skies and the wild moor with wonderful views will be irreparably damaged if this plan goes ahead.

The installation will dominate by both height and noise pollution. This special natural environment will be consumed by industrial ugliness with concrete roads electical installations etc.

The noise and sight of 100 foot rotor blades chopping through the air at over 100 mph will sound like Mamon (in this case Pennant walters) mixing cement in the sky.

Communities in Germany , Ireland and here in Wales claim that even 3000 feet away there is significant noise. No walker will want to go here, especially those many who achieve renewal of mind body and spirit from this unique area.

What value do you place on this loss of amenity for the next 100 years or more. If you answer nothing or I don’t know. Then those many who are saying that our valleys are once again being destroyed will be right.

Many residents are going to experience problems with light flicker as the sun moves behind the moving blades. The industry recognises that the flicker of reflected light on one side and shadow on the other drives people and animals crazy.

A potential problem for our over worked national health service.

At night the towers will be lit causing light pollution over the sky line.

Due to its prominence this development will succeed in causing significant visual pollution and disturbance 24/7.

Local houses will be de valued due to the visual impact. In Ireland a developer was forced to compensate a homeowner for loss of property value.

A couple in the Lake District were awarded 20% compensation because the sellers did not Advise that a wind farm was about to be built near their property. Many properties near wind farms have had council tax bills cut. Many residents here will demand substantial tax cuts if this goes ahead.

Many countries are now cutting or ceasing state support of wind farms.

Here in Wales we seem to be naieve and decades behind current thinking.

We are proposing to pay out tax payers money for businesses to create monstrosities on pristine landscapes. The result will be to devalue our property and destroy our landscape for which they pay nothing in compensation. What we get is at best an unreliable and expensive power supply insufficient to replace any coal burning power stations.

Make no mistake, big money is involved, But it is our community That is me and all of you who will pay and suffer because of it. The developers move on with fat profits.

How foolish and muddle headed is it to create a new environmental disaster in a futile attempt to solve another.

I would ask each committee member to search his or her conscience, consider carefully what we all lose if this application goes ahead and to reject this application in toto.

The Committee rejected Pennant Walters application which will now be the subject of appeal. If you wish your views to be heard please write in triplicate to:

The Planning Inspectorate,
REF A/07/2058755
Crown Building,
Cathays Park,
CARDIFF CF10 3NQ

BEFORE 1st MAY,2008

Polystyrene can now also be recycled at the Community Recycling Centres in Rhondda Cynon Taf as part of the latest initiatives to increase recycling and cut down on landfill in the county borough.

Thanks to the installation of a new compressor at the Bryn Pica recycling depot in Llwydcoed, Aberdare, expanded polystyrene that is often used for packaging large objects such as television sets, can be heated and reduced to 2.5% of its original size. This will eradicate any polystyrene from being buried in landfill.

Although batteries and clothing material can be recycled at one of the Council’s many Community Recycling Centre SORT centres, they can now also be taken as part of the weekly collection programme for the first time.