Adam Price reveals old comments from Eluned Morgan when she opposed overhead powerlines

Martin Shipton

Former Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price has unearthed comments made by Eluned Morgan 30 years ago in which she opposed the building of overhead powerlines in the Tywi Valley in Carmarthenshire - a position she no longer holds.

Recently, in the wake of controversial similar plans by Green GEN Cymru at the same location, the pair clashed in the Senedd chamber, with the First Minister telling Mr Price there was a need to “balance” local feeling with the rising demand for electricity.

However, the Brecon and Radnor Express reported on February 9 1995 an attack made by the then Ms Morgan on electricity company SWALEC over its plan to erect powerlines.

The story said: “Mid and West Wales MEP Eluned Morgan has asked SWALEC to reconsider its multi-million-pound scheme for overhead power lines in the upper Tywi Valley. In a letter to the chief executive she says a change of heart would be a demonstration of SWALEC’s commitment to the environment, and would provide a much-needed public relations boost to a privatised industry whose image had been tarnished. Ms Morgan has also written to the Welsh Office.”

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Adviser

Ironically Baroness Morgan later worked as an adviser to SWALEC after stepping down from the European Parliament and before being elected to the then National Assembly.

A spokesperson for SWALEC said in 1995 that the powerlines project was not of the company’s making, but a legal obligation: “Our involvement in this scheme is we were asked by Welsh Water Industrial Services to connect their planned hydro station to our electricity network. We have a legal obligation to do this and we have to provide it at an economic cost, as the consumer pays the bill,” saif the spokesperson.

According to the then chairman of the Blaenau Tywi Defence Committee, Dafydd Davies, the Tywi Valley scheme had become far more than merely a local issue. Mr Davies, seen as one of the UK’s foremost naturalists, said people throughout Britain were following developments with great interest.

He said: ”Our fight against high poles to carry a 33kV cable from a proposed hydroelectric plant at Llyn Brianne to Llandovery has generated dozens of messages of support. It is becoming apparent that there is a sense of outrage as SWALEC is unwilling to consider placing the cables underground. One of the most beautiful valleys in the UK is in danger of being ruined.

“The scheme’s opponents include many SWALEC shareholders. They fail to understand why the company is prepared to tarnish its image in order to save what is a relatively small amount of money.”

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Detracted

Among the bodies voicing opposition to the scheme were Friends of the Earth, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales and the Countryside Council for Wales. According to the CCW, it had long been recognised that poles and overhead electricity lines detracted from the national beauty and recreational quality of the countryside.

The body added: “Since the proposed development would be located in acknowledged high quality landscapes and would, without doubt, be visually intrusive, we would deem this development to be inappropriate in this locality. “

SWALEC said at the time they were doing all they could to ensure the preservation of the environment, stating: “We are mindful of the opinions of local people, and that is why we are taking such care to come up with an overhead line scheme which will have the least impact on the area.”

The company said it could not put the cables underground because that would cost Welsh Water an extra £4m and make the project uneconomic.

However, Mr Davies said: “It is important that we win this fight, not only for the sake of local democracy and the wellbeing of the Upper Tywi valley, but for the sake of the landscape and conservation throughout the UK.”

Moratorium

Referring to Baroness Morgan’s apparent change of heart on the matter, Mr Price, the MS for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, said: “These comments from the First Minister in her time as an MEP acknowledge the need to preserve areas like the Tywi and Teifi Valleys. It was true then, and it’s true now.

“The Welsh Government needs to call a moratorium on new planning applications for power lines, particularly after announcing a change to the planning law governing power lines in this year’s Budget. This would give sufficient time and space for new policies to be implemented along the updated frameworks.”

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said: “We won’t comment further on this. It would be inappropriate for us to comment given that projects will be decided by Welsh Ministers.”