I am writing to express my concern & dismay over the proposed plans for wind farm expansion in mid Wales and the associated National Grid Pylon development. I cannot express in strong enough terms my outrage at the WAG proposals for renewable energy such as the aforementioned wind farms. My objections are several and are as follows:
? Large scale wind farm energy production is inefficient, requiring backup resources to provide energy when the wind is not blowing, which on average is 30% of the time.
? The ?carbon footprint? caused by the production of these huge turbines far out ways any potential benefit from producing this so called green / low carbon energy.
? The WAG TAN 8 proposals only make any economic sense to the manufacturers of the turbines & the energy companies that shall run them because of the vast subsidies that they shall get paid by us the UK taxpayer. The inefficiencies of these turbines make them uneconomic in the real world where competing market forces apply.
? The direct impact on the local rural environment will be huge as house prices will be devastated in the immediate vicinity of turbines or pylons and local tourism will be directly affected due to noise and traffic pollution.
? The devastation of our beautiful countryside by 150 foot power pylons is outrageous. Why should huge multinational companies (such as National Grid) who have the skill, capability & knowledge to lay underground cables be allowed to erect over ground pylons. Decisions to do so being made purely on a cost basis. i.e. It is cheaper to put pylons up than to bury them safely under ground.
? The disruption to local people and businesses with respect to increased ?abnormal load? traffic for many years whilst the production of these wind farms takes place will be considerable.
? There is a potential threat to the health of people & livestock due to huge 400KV overhead power cables & pylons.
I am not against wind farming ?per say? but find the whole sale policy that says ?wind farms are the best way to provide alternative energy? despite all the data to the contrary is absolutely ludicrous. I am aware of the need for low carbon, sustainable, renewable energy but trying to put forward that wind farming is the way to attain this requirement is just plain ridiculous.
Please be aware of the feeling of local people when making decisions about future development of such wind farms and associated power infrastructure. A decision made in the cold light of the boardroom or in the Assembly will have long reaching and hard hitting impacts on the people, families and children of Wales for years to come.

Thank you for your letter and copy of your feedback dated 22nd May 2011 regarding your thoughts on this development. It is helpful for the Commission to be kept notified of the progress of this application from local stakeholders. Your comments have been noted and will be kept for future reference.
At the pre-application stage of the process, the developer is under a duty to consult statutory bodies and the local community. If you are or are not satisfied with the consultation I would advise you to speak to your Local Authority as they will be invited to submit an ?Adequacy of Consultation Representation? once an application is submitted. I would also advise you to continue communications with the applicant as by law they must take into account all responses they receive.
Once an application is submitted and has been accepted to go forward to examination, the public are invited to register their interest and submit a ?Relevant Representation? to the Commission with a summary of their comments. More detailed representations can then be made during the examination stage. Further information can also be found on our website: www.independent.gov.uk/infrastructure.