On Tuesday 10th May at 9.30am, Mr Glyn Davies, MP for Montgomeryshire, will be opening a debate in the House of Commons on ?The Industrialisation of Central Wales?.
Throughout North Shropshire, a whole series of packed meetings have been taking place in village halls expressing opposition to the proposals for enormous pylons passing through your constituency.
The construction of these pylons is dependent on the Welsh Assembly?s decision to approve applications for wind farms in Central Wales. I would be most grateful if you would look into this as a matter of urgency and lend us your support. Are you able to ensure that Members are made aware that a decision to go forwards with these wind farms will adversely affect a large part of North Shropshire and Central Wales. But there will be no benefit to the economy of our country.
There have been great concerns raised recently, with robust scientific evidence, about the net effects of wind farms and the impacts of wind farms and their infrastructure.
The only beneficiaries will be to the Electricity Companies who will be able to sell, very profitably, Renewable Obligation Certificates.
There has been apparently given little or no thought to the transportation implications, the disruption caused by the construction or to the long-term effect on our communities and the landscape in which we live.
Please ensure that those who are making the decision are fully aware of the grave impact of this policy to build huge wind farms in central Wales. Your Party places great emphasis on local decision making; throughout the whole of North Shropshire there is strong opposition to these proposals, which are a result of the previous Administration? policies.

The National Grid Mid Wales Connections project is currently at the 'pre-application' stage of our process, as set out in the Planning Act 2008. During the pre-application stage, there is a duty on the developer to undertake consultation with people living in the vicinity of the proposed project, and to have regard to responses to that consultation. In order for comments to be taken into account at this stage, comments and responses should be directed to National Grid as the developer of the project.
The IPC's role at the pre-application stage is to provide advice about the process of making an application, or the process of making a representation about an application. Whilst we are happy to be copied in on any comments you make to the developer, we are unable to provide legal opinions or comment on the merits of the scheme or national policy. This ensures the impartiality of the IPC and protects the interests of all parties involved in the application process. All advice that we give is recorded via an advice log, in line with s.51 of the Planning Act 2008. This log is published on our website. attachment 1
With the above in mind, may I therefore suggest that the queries set out in your letter are raised directly with the promoters of the Mid Wales Connection schemes where appropriate. The National Grid project team can be contacted on 0800 019 5325 or by email at national [email protected]. There is also a project website; attachment 2 .
Your local council also plays a role in the process at the pre-application stage and we would encourage you to copy to the council any comments you send to the developer at the pre-application stage. Further information on this and how you can be involved in the developers? consultation is detailed in advice note 8.2, this can be found at: attachment 3.
Once the pre-application consultation duties are complete, the developer may submit an application to the Commission. The Commission has 28 days to decide whether to accept the application to proceed to the examination stage. This decision is based on whether, amongst other matters, the pre-application consultation has been adequate. When making a decision on whether the pre-application consultation has been adequate, the Commission will have regard to:
? National Grid?s consultation report;
? Any comments on the adequacy of consultation submitted by relevant Local Authorities; and
? The extent to which National Grid have followed the guidance published by the Commission and the Secretary of State.
If an application is accepted for examination by the Infrastructure Planning Commission, you are able to become directly involved in the examination of an application. A suite of advice notes has been published providing information on how and when members of the public can become involved in the planning process and have their say. In particular, advice note 8.3 provides information on how to register and make a written representation. This can be found at: attachment 3.