A GROUP determined to stop developers turning the Radnor Forest into a sprawling energy park say they need to raise £35,000 in order to employ experts to help them combat proposals.

Members of campaign group RE-Think: Don't Break the Heart of Wales, have launched an online crowdfunder as they continue their mission to oppose Bute Energy’s plans in the Radnor Forest.

Fighting these proposals – which would include building the flagship Nant Mithil Energy Park first mooted by Bute in 2022 – will take “thousands of pounds”, according to RE-Think.

RE-Think launched its fundraising page last week, saying it needs to appoint a planning and energy expert and other specialists to help it object to the Radnor Forest proposals.

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“We hope to raise at least £35,000 initially to appoint these experts and to ensure we make the strongest objections possible to Bute Energy’s plans,” RE-Think said in a statement supporting the fundraiser.

“This will pay for help with our submission to the planning applications, plus attendance at public hearings as they arise.

“We will probably need more. But if anything remains, it will contribute towards fundraising to oppose other Bute Energy schemes where necessary, or to support a Judicial Review.”

Latest plans to develop renewable energy projects in Powys first surfaced in 2022, when Scottish property developers Bute laid out proposals for Nant Mithil on land between Penybont and New Radnor.

Latest plans by Bute claim up to 31 wind turbines will be erected, which will provide approximately 205MW of clean, green energy using the latest wind turbine technology – enough to power between approximately 135,000 and 202,000 homes, while displacing between approximately 200,000 and 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Jenny Barnes, of RE-Think, said the group has given itself six weeks to raise £35,000.

She said: “We have six weeks to get as much money in as we can to pay for professional help to oppose Bute's plans in Radnor Forest, the ‘head of the snake’. 

“We need thousands of pounds to beat Bute, so every penny will count.”

Several consultations have taken place over the last two years, with Bute repeatedly claiming Nant Mithil and other subsidiary locations across mid and south-west Wales will respond to the climate change emergency and support the Welsh Government’s target for electricity to be 100 per cent renewable by 2035.

A banner protesting a proposed Bute Energy windfarm in Powys.A banner protesting a proposed Bute Energy windfarm near Staylittle in north Powys. (Image: Sally George) It also says the project will deliver “significant benefits” to the local community, including a community benefit fund around £1.5millon invested in community projects every year for the operational life of the project.

But RE-Think says Nant Mithil, plus two more proposed developments near Builth Wells and Llandrindod Wells, would “overshadow” nearby villages and be visible from as far away as the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) National Park.

“This would effectively create one giant wind farm containing 72 of these mammoth turbines,” says RE-Think.

“This would cover 17 square miles of breathtaking Radnorshire countryside. Overhead power lines, 60 miles long through the beautiful Towy Valley would connect them to the grid in Carmarthenshire.

The Re-Think group was launched following Bute Energy proposals to develop a renewable energy network - including pylons, turbines and green energy parks - in mid Powys.The Re-Think group was launched following Bute Energy proposals to develop a renewable energy network - including pylons, turbines and green energy parks - in mid Powys. “These plans would decimate rural communities, threaten livelihoods, kill wildlife and destroy habitats.

“Bute Energy claims to be ‘making the Welsh weather work for Wales’, yet any energy it generates will go straight to the UK grid, and the number of permanent jobs that its developments might create is currently unknown.

“Because this is classed as a Development of National Significance (DNS) application, the decision on whether these 65 giant turbines are built or not will be taken by a single Welsh Government cabinet member advised by a planning inspector. This is wholly undemocratic.

“There are also gaps in the data that the developer has produced. We need to put forward the strongest possible opposition, which can only be done with professional help.”

To view more, and to contribute to RE-Think's crowdfunder, visit https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-radnor-forest.