Russell George

As a member of the National Assembly’s Petitions Committee, I put forward the suggestion of further research into noise nuisance from onshore wind turbines at this weeks meeting following the significant number of public responses to the Committees consultation on this issue.

Descriptions of the noise provided to the Committee by those living near turbines ranged from ‘pounding’, ‘humming’, ‘growling’ and ‘whining’, through to a noise which was deemed, ‘unbearable to live with’.

The majority of the members of the public who responded to the consultation reported that the noise ‘regularly disrupts their sleep’ leading to stress, depression and health concerns.

We know as a Committee that guidance within TAN 8, which assesses and rates noise from wind farms, sets out noise levels within which a turbine must operate in order to protect public health. These guidelines state that wind turbine noise will be audible to some neighbours and at times may be ‘very audible.

However, these guidelines have not been reviewed in well over a decade and in that time, the height and size of turbines have increased, which could well have an impact on noise levels emitted.

I seriously think we need further research on this issue because as we have seen from many of concerns raised from the public, noise from turbines is not just a nuisance, it is having a huge impact on people’s daily lives and on their health and wellbeing.

I also stand by my call to have a moratorium on all wind farm applications until a thorough review of TAN 8 is completed.

I was pleased that the Committee also agreed to undertake a site visit early in the New Year, to hear the noise impact of an onshore wind farms for themselves.

I wrote to the editors of the Western Mail and the Daily Post this week about Wales’ commitments to the Armed Forces. This is the letter I sent:

Dear Editor

This week I had the privilege of speaking in a Welsh Conservative-led debate on support for our Armed Forces Community in Wales. I think we would all agree that as a nation, we have a duty to give the brave and capable men and women of our armed forces our full support in return for the selfless service and sacrifice they are prepared to make in our name.

However, we should not just talk about these issues for one week of the year around Remembrance Day but raise them throughout the year. We must ensure that they have what they need to do what we ask of them and that they and their families are looked after properly during and after the service they give to us and our country.

I feel so strongly about this issue that a few weeks ago, when backbench AMs had the chance to submit an idea for a ballot which would give one us the opportunity of bringing forward Welsh legislation, I put forward the proposition of an Armed Forces Bill for Wales. This was a key Welsh Conservative manifesto pledge from May’s election and the objectives were simple – it would help forces personnel to play a full role in society and give them the opportunity they need to socialise and make the most of travel, heritage and leisure facilities; it would raise awareness of the availability of NHS priority care for service related conditions, particularly Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; and it would allow wider civil society in Wales to recognise their service and bravery for all that they do on our behalf. Unfortunately, the lottery system meant I did not get selected.

However, ahead of the debate and much to my welcome surprise, the Welsh Government has come forward and published its own package of support for the Armed Forces Community in Wales. This was a real positive step forward and I am pleased that Government has taken forward some elements of the Armed Forces Card that we prioritised in our manifesto.

Yet, there is still the opportunity for the Government to go further with this package of support because I believe some of the commitments fall short of what we believe is necessary – particularly around health support – to provide the best for our armed forces personnel.

The Government said it is a ‘living document’, which is flexible and can be enhanced in the future. Therefore, I hope the Minister took on board the excellent suggestions made by all AMs during the debate because these people who have sacrificed so much for their country deserve our full recognition and full support.

Russell George AM

National Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire

Every four years you get the chance to decide who you want to represent you on Powys County Council. In just six months’ time, you will again have that opportunity to cast your vote.

The Council is currently run by an administration of Liberal Democrat and Powys Independent councillors and it is effectively these councillors that have appointed 10 of their own to run the council.

Next week, Powys County Council’s 10 member cabinet will announce its plans on its school modernisation programme and its preferred way forward. At this stage we know very little about the final set of proposals but the Council has insisted that all 13 secondary school sites will remain open. However it is obviously a worrying time for pupils, parents, teachers and governors whose futures hang in the balance.  Many Year 11 pupils are making decisions about their A levels and where to study them right now. I attended nearly all of the public meetings in Montgomeryshire earlier this year and I can tell you quite categorically that there was next to no support for the options the Council was putting forward.

The Welsh Conservative group on the Council was not happy that the final decision should stay with just the 10 cabinet members, due to the controversial and divisive impact that the potential ‘modernisation’ plans will have in the County. They, as many others did, believed that any final decision should be made by the full Council of 73 members and a motion to allow this to happen was put forward at a recent meeting. The Welsh Conservative, Labour and Shire Independent groups all voted in favour of the motion, whilst the majority of the Liberal Democrat and Powys Independent councillors voted against. The ruling groups narrowly won the vote and it will now be left to the 10 member cabinet to have the final word on these plans.

This week, I took it upon myself to ask a few people at random what they knew about these 10 Liberal Democrat and Powys Independent councillors that make up the cabinet. Some knew very little, others mentioned that these were the 10 that voted to give themselves a 40% increase. However, the one consistent response that was given to me was that it was these 10 that orchestrated the vote so that the final decision on the future of our schools should be made by them, rather than all the elected councillors across Powys.

As we edge closer and closer to the elections next May, I would fully expect “the 10” to be telling us what they intend to do if a Liberal Democrat and Powys Independent council is returned to office and to demonstrate that their recent 40% pay increase (a raise from what the previous board members received) is fully justified. I should say at this point, that indeed some of the 10 have written letters in the County Times attempting to do just that. It is now for you the voter to decide to accept or reject what they have done in your name.

If you are not happy with what the Council has done, you can naturally exercise your democratic right and vote against them. But why not go one step further; why not consider putting yourself forward and stand for public office?

I know dozens and dozens of people who with a spirit of altruism, personal integrity, conviction of purpose and individual responsibility would excel in representing their community; and it is that aspect which is the most important feature of the job. The greatest privilege anyone can have is to serve other people. The job is not easy nor should it be but it is one of the most rewarding experiences you will have. If you are interested to know more, please do contact me and I would be happy to discuss with you my own experiences as a County Councillor and what the job entails.

I will leave you to think about this proposal with a twist on the immortal words uttered by US President John F. Kennedy at his inaugural address: “Ask not what your county can do for you but ask what you can do for your county!”

This week I wrote to the Welsh Business and Enterprise Minister asking her to seriously consider Powys as a potential site for the second tranche of Enterprise Zones to be announced before Christmas.

In the letter, I told her that I was pleased the Government was examining areas beyond the main industrialised towns and cities and hoped that rural Mid Wales would feature in her second phase announcement.

The Minister has stated that she has been discussing additional Enterprise Zones with other local authorities and I have asked her what discussions she has had with Powys County Council and other key stakeholders in the region, regarding the potential establishment of an Enterprise Zone in Mid Wales.

Powys would benefit significantly from an Enterprise Zone and I believe the region has a lot of positive elements to offer in driving forward the Government’s Economic Renewal Programme for Wales.

For many years, Powys has delivered high end manufacturing employment in a variety of sectors – textiles, automotive, sustainable development and low carbon technologies.

It has also made a significant contribution to the Welsh tourism and food and farming sectors, which have been identified by the Government as priority sectors for development.

Its geographical location to the English border also makes it an ideal location to make specific business links with important cities like Birmingham but also with the English Enterprise Zones in Hereford and the Black Country.

I think a zone in the Severn Valley would add real value to the Welsh economic recovery and I hope the Minister gives my suggestion serious consideration.

The first debate of the new Assembly term yesterday was on maternity services. I thought it right to highlight the challenges that existed in delivering maternity services in rural Wales and in particular, how reliant expectant mothers in Montgomeryshire are on emergency treatment from hospitals in England. I have included extracts of what I said during the hour long debate below

“It is apt that in Rural Health Week, I have the opportunity to raise the particular challenges that delivering maternity services to dispersed rural communities presents.

“While I do welcome the Government’s new strategy and its focus on improving standards and outcomes, maternity services need to be planned in such a way that they meet the needs of the local population, whilst also promoting best practise.

“Maternity services in Powys are unique – it has one of the highest levels of home births anywhere in the UK. It has led the way in developing a strong midwife-led service and this shows that we have taken innovative and practical steps in solving some of the rural challenges that we face.

“However, the simple fact of the matter is that for elective, complex or emergency treatment, we rely heavily on the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. That is why I have real concerns about the reconfiguration of services in Shropshire.”

“The removal of consultant-led services from Shrewsbury to Telford could potentially put many women at increased risk.

“Can we possibly allow women suffering complicated pregnancies or difficult labours, not only to travel further but when they get there not guarantee them a specialist bed?

“The Welsh Government and Powys Health Board must both take proactive action to ensure that women living in Powys experience an excellent and above all safe service. After all, giving birth is possibly one of the great experiences a woman will have in her lifetime and we all have a duty to ensure that it is the very best experience it can be.”

I have copied this very welcome statement from Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust below.

The trust is quite right to question the wisdom of concentrating wind farms into areas that are remote from sources of demand and locating wind farms away from existing infrastructure.

The Montgomeryshire and Shropshire Wildlife Trusts Position Statement on large-scale wind farms and their associated infrastructure

Scope of position statement
This statement sets out the Trusts’ position in relation to large-scale wind farms in mid-Wales and their associated infrastructure. This statement should be read in conjunction with The UK Wildlife Trusts’ policies on climate change and wind farms on land.
Context
The Wildlife Trusts believe that climate change is almost certainly the most significant challenge facing nature conservation today, with the potential to have significant impacts on the future of UK and global biodiversity. We consider that wind power can help to meet the energy requirements of the UK in a sustainable
manner, but these benefits cannot mitigate or compensate for any impacts on wildlife or on wildlife sites that are associated with wind farm developments.
Up to now every wind farm has been judged under its own merits with objections lodged to those that would cause significant harm to wildlife or wildlife sites.
Nevertheless, the Trusts have long been concerned about the cumulative effect of large-scale wind farm development and with many upland areas of Mid-Wales
already covered with wind farms, the impact of hundreds more turbines is likely
to be significant. To date, there has also been widespread failure of the mitigation measures connected with large-scale wind farms to compensate for the loss of key species and habitats.
Of greatest concern is the huge scale of the new generation of wind farms currently proposed for large parts of the Mid-Wales uplands. These wind farms require major alterations to the rural road network, as well as a new electrical substation and extensive new electrical grid connections. When these new largescale wind farm developments are considered together with their associated infrastructure, the impact on the area’s wildlife could be devastating.
The way forward
We believe there should be a more strategic and long term approach to meeting the UK’s energy needs.
The Technical Advice Note (TAN) 8: Planning for Renewable Energy was published by the Welsh Assembly Government in 2005 to provide technical advice on renewable energy to supplement the policy set out in Planning Policy Wales. The Trusts question the wisdom of:
• concentrating wind farms into defined areas that are remote from
sources of demand
• locating large-scale wind farms in areas not served by, or in proximity to, existing infrastructure
• so great an emphasis being placed on wind power as the primary form of renewable energy TAN 8 also considered wind farm technology of the time and this was at a much smaller scale than that available today. With these points in mind, the Trusts
believe that TAN 8 should be reviewed as soon as possible, with greater emphasis on other forms of renewable energies.
The most cost effective and sustainable approach to meeting our energy needs is to reduce demand for energy through effective energy efficiency measures. This should be central to all energy policy and cover all sectors.
When considering renewable energy generation, the Trusts believe that the focus should be on micro-generation. Not only do these small-scale projects have a minimal ecological impact themselves, but they also do not require the massive infrastructure needed for large-scale developments.
Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust
Shropshire Wildlife Trust
July 2011

As the National Assembly goes into recess for the summer, it has given me the opportunity to take stock on what has been a rapid yet fascinating, 10 weeks.

While the campaign to prevent the Mid-Wales connection project going ahead has been one of the most high profile cases in my in-tray, I have been questioning Ministers and debating a wide range of issues on your behalf.

Newtown traffic issues continue to be a source of frustration. I have questioned the Welsh Government on this issue on a number of occasions and have recently written to the Transport Minister asking for a clear timeline from now until the bypass is finally completed. I have also been pressing them on their previous commitment to give serious consideration into restoring the Kerry Road roundabout. I believe pinning the Government down to an exact work schedule will prove to the people of Mid-Wales that they are still seriously committed to solving this problem that affects so many os us.

One of the most disappointing issues that has emerged in the past couple of weeks is the Welsh Government’s announcement that it is radically changing its school building programme – 21st Century Schools. They have told local authorities to go back to the drawing board in relation to how many schools can be renewed and refurbished over the next few years. This has certainly created uncertainty for many schools, pupils and parents in Powys. What has annoyed me is how the Government has handled this issue. Questions were raised about the affordability of the programme last year but they still allowed local authorities to submit their plans. There is also a reluctance to look at other ways beyond public money to fund building development. It is time that a creative approach to funding school building is adopted in order to provide the best quality schools for our children – that means working innovatively with both the private and voluntary sectors to find practical solutions.

One of the most positive pieces of news in the last few weeks was the Welsh Government’s announcement that it intends to expand its broadband improvement scheme. As an opposition, Welsh Conservatives have been critical of the Government for a number of years for not tackling broadband connectivity in rural Wales. The lack of fast internet connection or no connection at all – or ‘not spots’ – have severely hampered economic growth, restricted IT usage in our schools and has slowed technological development in a number of sectors, including farming. It is vitally important that all Mid Wales communities have access to high speed broadband as soon as possible.

So in the short period of time since that I have been the Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire what I have I learned? Two key things: I have learned that it can be difficult getting direct answers from the Welsh Government and I have learned that the persistence of ‘people power’ can really make a difference in changing the policies and mind-set of Governments.