Campaigners have criticised the firm behind a proposed nuclear plant on Anglesey for wanting to delete policies designed to safeguard the Welsh language. Horizon says the language measures contained in the proposed Gwynedd and Anglesey Local Development Plan are “too restrictive”, and that failing to make changes could jeopardise the Wylfa Newydd project. But opponents have accused the company of showing its “true colours” in relation to the language, and of undermining local authorities’ efforts to assess the impact of the development on Welsh in the area. In a statement prepared on Horizon’s behalf by a consulting company, the firm objects to the the proposal that councils could refuse developments which would cause “significant harm to the character and language balance of a community”. Horizon wants the measure deleted from the final plan, which is currently at the independent scrutiny stage. The company also claims the proposed Gwynedd and Anglesey plan is contrary to guidelines issued by the Welsh Government regarding the use of Welsh in planning policies. Horizon does not object to signage at the site being bilingual or Welsh names being used for the new developments. Dylan Morgan, of anti-nuclear campaign group PAWB, said: “They know that, by bringing in 8,000 construction workers from outside the travel to work area, the language will be under severe pressure in our communities, and they plainly don’t care. “Interestingly, Horizon have commissioned a language impact assessment for Wylfa B, but this report hasn’t been published. “It is clearly a time for plan B not Wylfa B, and that is a comprehensive programme of developing renewable energy technologies and improving energy efficiency and energy conservation.”
Daily Post 1st Sept 2016 read more »
On 31 August the Japanese (Hitachi) owned Horizon Nuclear published a mammoth 684 page public consultation document on its proposals to build a new nuclear power plant, Wylfa Newydd, on Anglesey. As the primary reason for the halt in the go ahead for the Hinkley C nuclear plant on Somerset’s north coast, just across the Bristol Channel from Cardiff, Newport, and Swansea is unresolved security matters, I looked at Horizon’s consultation document to see what it says about security at Wylfa Newydd. The answer is worryingly little; and what it does say is so general as to be worthless.
Daivid Lowry’s Blog 1st Sept 2016 read more »