The Cambrian Mountain Society has teamed up with researchers to discover how wind farm developments impact local communities.

With six massive wind farms proposed for the Cambrian Mountains, the society says ‘it’s clear that where sheer beauty has failed, the prospect of big profits has brought this remote and untouched area to international attention’.

Developers from Switzerland, Norway and investors from Denmark and Australia are all seeking the opportunity to develop wind farms in mid Wales, with a mixed bag when it comes to benefits for the local communities.

The society says: “Some landowners will reap significant income from leasing their land for the energy parks to be built on.

“Everyone else, however, faces years if not decades of massive construction work including major road building and congestion.

“The exceptional tranquillity for which the Cambrian Mountains are justly famous would be torn apart.

“And it is unlikely to bring long term employment.

“Mid Wales is no stranger to the impacts of policies introduced by governments whose core interests lie elsewhere.

“Over the last centuries the landscape has changed enormously with the building of reservoirs for water for big cities elsewhere.

“Large areas of the uplands have been turned into monoculture conifer plantations. Agricultural support schemes devised primarily for lowland farms have changed the way upland farmers have had to work.

“All of these changes have contributed to the demographic shift which is now so evident in the region – without any attention being paid to the people who actually live and work here.”

The Cambrian Mountains Society (“CMS”) has therefore teamed up with researchers from the universities of Coventry and Aberystwyth to find out how local people have been affected by these changes in the past, and what they think the latest round of bright ideas is likely to do to their communities.

A poll which was run over the summer showed that local people are deeply concerned about the future impacts of both wind farms and the continued ‘creep’ of conifer planting.

Lorna Brazell, secretary of CMS says: "Despite its extraordinary beauty, mid Wales is the only region in Wales without any legal protection whatsoever for its iconic landscapes.

“Although over 20,000 people signed a Senedd Petition asking for it to be made an AONB, nothing has yet been done.

“With the Welsh Government and County Councils sitting on their hands, the landscapes which support our biggest industries – farming and tourism – are at risk of being destroyed to generate energy for the rest of the British Isles.

“Meanwhile, the people whose livelihoods depend on the landscape struggle to be heard. That’s why we’re running a series of workshops, asking locals to come along and tell us what they think.”

Llandovery and Rhayader events have taken place already. There will also be workshops in Tregaron, Llanidloes and Ponterwyd in October and November to listen to locals’ experiences and expectations for the future.

For more information, contact Lorna by email on [email protected] or by phone on 01591 610192.