Back in 2023 we asked you to contribute to the pre-application consultation. This had over 350 responses, of which only 3 were positive. Despite this, the planning application has now been submitted. As well as our own objections, we have partnered with Snowdonia Society, Buglife and North Wales Wildlife Trust to produce a template objection letter.
Click the link below to submit an objection, it will only take you a couple of minutes. The deadline is the 20th September.
In 2019 we ask you, our community, to help us protect one of the most iconic landscapes in Wales the waterfalls cascades of the Afon Cynfal (Site of Special Scientific Interest – SSSI) were threatened by a proposed hydroelectric development that would dam and divert water around falls.
Thanks to your support, and the objections of Save Our Rivers and the Snowdonia Society, this stunning location was preserved.
The Snowdonia National Park Authority placed the application for the Cwm Cynfal hydro scheme on hold. The planning department rightly decided that the application submitted was inadequate for such a potentially damaging development and a full EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) was requested.
This EIA has now been submitted, but despite the extra survey information, the scheme remains largely unchanged from the 2019 application, and our original objections still stand.
Namely:
The proposed development has multiple concerns including the visual impact of the intake structure, the damage to the ecology of the river and bog area around the river crossing and the permanent landscape changes required to underground the pipeline along the Slate Trail.
There are significant risks during construction of damage to the downstream SSSI which are not adequately addressed in the CMS.
It is felt that the proposed development should be rejected as the low level of power produced does little to offset the impact to both the ecology and aesthetic of this culturally important landscape and to compensate for the fragmenting of one of the UKs last remaining free-flowing rivers.
As part of the EIA process the developer is required to seek public comments on the application, we need you to show your concerns and fill a survey. This closed on the 25th of November, and we are grateful to every single one of you who took the time to read through the information and share your thoughts on the Cynfal. We await the developer's next move....