Wind farm lorry convoys will bring traffic to a halt
A convoy of lorries carrying wind turbine parts could bring main roads through Shropshire and Mid Wales to a halt five days a week for up to five years if controversial wind farm plans are given the go ahead.
A planning inquiry in Welshpool heard that the abnormal load lorries would pass through the region en-route from Ellesmere Port to wind farms in Mid Wales every day for three to five years.
Dyfed-Powys and West Mercia Police officers would work on rest days to provide an escort along the route.
This would see lorries go down the A483 past Wrexham, into Shropshire at Oswestry and then into Powys as they went through Llanymynech, Welshpool, Newtown and onwards to one of the five planned wind farms. The cost of the policing would be met by the haulier, the public inquiry into the planned wind farms heard at the Royal Oak in Welshpool yesterday.
It is proposed to build wind farms in Llanbadarn Fynydd, near Llandrindod Wells; Llaithddu, near Newtown; Llandinam, near Llanidloes; Llanbrynmair, near Machynlleth; Carnedd Wen, near Machynlleth, with a 132kV overhead electric line connection from a Llandinam wind farm to the Welshpool substation.
The plans are being fought by The Alliance group, which is made up of 21 organisations together with Powys County Council.
Roger Duggan, representing The Alliance, said: "If we are looking at one convoy a day to a site and five days a week that this is happening we could be looking at 1,000 convoys over four or five years.
"This would place a huge stress on police resources with six police outriders on motorcycles and two in a patrol car every day."
Planning inspector Andrew Poulter added: "It could be a smooth process to begin with, with three to five convoys a week and people happy to wave them though, but perhaps the novelty will wear off."
