What Are We Doing?

What we've done

To date, we have:

  • Contacted the local press to publish our objections. In general, before the planning meetings these mostly fell on deaf ears. We now seem to have established a little more support from the local press.
  • Lodged an almost 700 signature petition with the DTI and the Environment Agency, along with a letter detailing our objections.
  • Gained the backing and support of 2 local councillors, Ted Latham and Colin Crowley (Labour), who are running a "“Say No to Prenergy Power Plant" poster campaign.
  • Protested 2 planning committee meetings, with reasonably large gatherings of residents at each.
  • Blanketed the local, most-affected area with leaflets and "Say NO" posters. The local response to this has been excellent, and the majority of windows to both homes and businesses in the vicinity are now displaying their poster and support.
  • Tried to gain further Council and Welsh Assembly support.
  • Continued to push the DTI for a public inquiry.

The Prenergy application was discussed at a planning meeting on Tuesday March 13th in the Council Offices Port Talbot, and a site visit made on April 3rd. Despite our protests at these meetings, our case being well put to the planning committee by 3 councillors, and a good turn out by residents in support, the planning committee essentially ignored all of our objections. We believe they used misleading information which, like Prenergies own documentation, did nothing to convince us against the risks of the proposed station. It is now upto the DTI to have the final word, and so we need everyones continued support, which you can show by sending a letter to the DTI (see below).

What Next?

With the council approving the plans, the fate of the Prenergy plant now lies with the DTI. If they think it is prudent, they can and will call for an inquiry. We are pressing them to do this, and would urge you to do the same by sending a letter (see below for the addresses and an example letter). We also believe that we have some very strong arguments based on Environmental Reports, Royal Commission Enquiries and the DTI's own studies, to show that our health is at risk. We have already met with our local MP and AM (a summary of the meeting will be posted shortly).

Council

We currently have the support of 3 local Councillors, including Ted Latham and Colin Crowley (Labour), and all 3 strongly voiced our concerns and voted against the proposals at the planning meetings.

Press

Unfortunately, before the planning meetings, there was virtually NO reporting of any of the complaints raised or our protests against the Power Stations in the mainstream local press despite our many attempts to get our voice heard. We believe there to be an alternate agenda here, and not one which supports the safety and health of the people of Port Talbot.

Since the meetings, there have been several reports in the Evening Post, including front page headlines.

Port Talbot Guardian has reported a few brief articles about our objections.

Support Us - What can you do?

  • Poster - Say No to Power Stations (PDF)
    A poster (in Acrobat/PDF format) for you to print and display in your house or business window, to show support of our campaign.
  • Send a Letter to the DTI and Environment Agency

    Please send a letter with your own objections to the DTI and Environment Agency. Feel free to use this site and our template letter for reference.

    There is also a Word version of the template letter, should you prefer.

    • Robert Pridham
      Department of Trade and Industry
      Bay 2121
      1 Victoria Street
      LONDON SW1H 0ET
    • Mr Adrian Jenkins
      Environment Agency
      South West Area Office, Maes Newydd,
      Llandarcy, Neath,
      Glamorgan, SA10 6JQ