Our lives are being ruined by a massive wind farm – lorries thunder up the hill and the turbines will ruin our view 

Residents living near a massive wind farm fear their lives are being ruined by lorries thundering up the hill and turbines blocking their view.

Villagers in Tonmawr, near Port Talbot, south Wales, have come together to fight plans for a wind farm on a hill above their homes.

The wind farm will be built on a hill on Mynydd Fforch Dwm.

Residents are worried that large lorries could cause accidents on the very narrow roads.

Families say the access road to the hill is too narrow and the seven 200m wind turbines will dominate the skyline and create excessive noise.

But developers Naturalis say the proposed wind farm at Mynydd Fforch Dwm could generate enough energy to power 25,000 homes.

Steelworker Carl Howard, 53, expressed locals’ concerns about the wind farm.

He said: “Why on earth do they have to bring these things here and stick them on top of a mountain that is almost inaccessible for a car, let alone blooming great big lorries.

“The lane in front of my house is only fourteen feet wide and when they bring those big blades along here, there will be six inches clearance between them and my house.

“It isn’t just the turbines they’ve got to drive through here, there’s all the materials that are needed to build a wind farm. It will be a constant stream of lorries for years.”

And he claims that the place doesn’t have the foundations needed to cope with the vibrations and weight of hundreds of lorries coming past their houses.

Carl continued: “I’m extreme worried about all this. I’m genuinely afraid the place could fall down.

“I think it’s ridiculous, these turbines will be some of the biggest in Europe and they will be an absolute eyesore for everyone associated with these beautiful hills and valleys.

“It’s going to take two or three years and that will be a nightmare.

“Some of us are getting our houses valued now because we’re afraid after this project they will be worth a lot less.”

Carl’s views are shared by his fellow villager Neil Compton 42, who has lived in Tonmawr his whole life.

‘CHAOS’

Neil, a mechanic, said: “The roads hereabouts are just too narrow for this sort of works traffic, it’s going to be chaos.

“The place is littered with old mine shafts and some of the roads are unstable.

“Just before the bend into Railway Terrace, the road there collapsed five years ago and they have had to shore it up. Now, if this is given the go-ahead, those heavy lorries and trucks are going to have come up the same road.

“On top of that, the wind turbines are going to be massive and they will totally spoil the view of our lovely valleys and hills.

“They also generate an awful lot of noise if the wind is blowing in your direction.”

‘CRAZY IDEA’

A local garage owner, who asked not to be named, agreed.

He said: “The infrastructure around here just isn’t suitable for the extra traffic and heavy lorries.

“It’s a crazy idea and will cause considerable disruption for the people living here.

But another garage owner, who also didn’t want to be named, said: “Personally I don’t mind them coming here with these turbines.

“After all we need the electricity don’t we and people will eventually get used to them.”

Other residents who gather at the Colliers Arms pub in a nearby village are also opposed to the wind farm.

One drinker said: “I live in Railway Terrace where the giant lorries will pass on their way to the proposed wind farm site.

“The road is barely fourteen feet wide and when the lorries come by I won’t even be able to get out of my house.

Sitting alongside him at the Colliers Arms is retired steelworker Cliff Derreck, who fears that some places will have to be knocked down so the biggest lorries can get in.

He said: “They’ll have to close the roads when the trucks are coming through and it’ll block all the roads around here for miles around.

“People will be stuck in their houses and the kids will be unable to get to school.

“They expect to be managing over 300 cement lorries making over 600 journeys to the site over roads many of which are single track.

“Then they are going to have to get the turbine blades in and they are huge.

“They are even going to have to knock down some places for those biggest lorries to get through.

“I went to school with Richard Burton, I dread to think what he would have thought of all these goings on”

The Welsh Government will have the final say on the project, which is a joint venture between Naturalis and two leading renewable energy companies – Falck Renewables and REG Wind power.

Joanne Elgie, 47, has started an action group against the proposals because she fears the project could leave Tonmawr in “complete chaos”.

She said: “We are all for renewable energy and having these sort of wind farms, however the impact has to be properly weighed up, and in this case we do not think it is suitable.

“One of the main reasons we are against it is because of the way developers will have to transport the goods to build these structures, through a route of winding and narrow roads.

“There is a very realistic chance people will be completely blocked off from public use when the construction vehicles come in, meaning at times the village could be cut off.

“This would be complete chaos for people who live here, in accessing their homes, doing school runs, or even emergency services, and we don’t think it is fair if we can’t get in or out.

She also raised concerns on the “tonnes of concrete” needed to be brought in to build the supporting base and operational buildings around it.

Joanne continued: “That would take hundreds of lorries and special vehicles to achieve, so as well as the roads being congested and blocked, we also have to think about the pollution that would cause.

“As we said, almost everyone in the area is behind the development of green energy, but in this part of Tonmawr we don’t think it is right.”

Naturalis have been contacted for comment.