Conwy Falls & Fairy Glen – What’s all the fuss about?
At a glance
Multinational energy company RWE Innogy have submitted a planning application to Snowdonia National Park Authority to build a 5MW hydro-electric scheme on the River Conwy. The Snowdonia Society is concerned about the potential for serious negative impacts of this scheme on Conwy Falls and the Fairy Glen Site of Special Scientific Interest.
What does the scheme involve?
- RWE will build a ‘diversionary weir’ (a dam) across the River Conwy above the Conwy Falls Cafe.
- The weir will divert water from the river into a tunnel which will be blasted/drilled under the A5 and through rock for a distance of about 900m.
How you can help
Donate now to the Snowdonia Society.
Visit our Facebook page to see what others are saying about the scheme.
Read more on the Save the Conwy website.
- After crossing back under the A5, the pipeline will continue through open countryside, hedgerows and woodland for just over a kilometre.
- The water will go through a turbine in a part-buried turbine hall and then be returned to the river about 2.2 km downstream as the river flows.
- A transformer building will be built as part of the scheme, but the physical connection to the electricity grid is not considered as part of the planning application.
What’s the problem?
The dam will obstruct an important section of an important main river and impound water, affecting water levels, migratory fish passage and sediment movement.
Two kilometres of the Conwy will be significantly depleted of water: the proposal is to take 194 million cubic metres of water per year from the river.
The depleted reach affects the Fairy Glen Site of Special Scientific Interest, and its special features which depend on water flow and resulting humidity
Loss and damage to ancient woodland trees.
Landscape, visual amenity, aesthetic and access impacts for large numbers of people who come for the enjoyment of a spectacular natural attraction in a National Park.
Impact on recreational user groups such as anglers and kayakers for whom this is a regionally/nationally important natural resource
Disruption and damage during construction, with impacts on local residents, businesses, visitors and economy.
Two kilometres of the Conwy will be significantly depleted of water: the proposal is to take 194 million cubic metres of water per year from the river.
The depleted reach affects the Fairy Glen Site of Special Scientific Interest, and its special features which depend on water flow and resulting humidity
Loss and damage to ancient woodland trees.
Landscape, visual amenity, aesthetic and access impacts for large numbers of people who come for the enjoyment of a spectacular natural attraction in a National Park.
Impact on recreational user groups such as anglers and kayakers for whom this is a regionally/nationally important natural resource
Disruption and damage during construction, with impacts on local residents, businesses, visitors and economy.
Won’t these impacts be dealt with in the planning process?
In October the National Park’s Planning Committtee was recommended to approve the application and Natural Resources Wales said they had no objection.
Since then we and many others have worked hard to ensure proper scrutiny of the impacts. The National Park has now ordered new reports and delayed decision-making pending more adequate input from Natural Resources Wales.
Doesn’t a hydro scheme need permits from Natural Resources Wales too?
Natural Resources Wales have not inspired confidence with their planning response to the National Park, which failed even to mention a number of issues for which they are responsible. We are pushing for a proper assessment of the permit applications.
But we need the renewable energy
We do need renewables and on a big scale. But we also need the irreplaceable natural resources provided by National Parks and SSSIs – beautiful, biodiverse places where people get outside, are inspired and are themselves renewed.
Let’s put our renewables in the most suitable locations in a planned and thoughtful way, rather than in response to subsidy grabbing. And lets make sure our wild places are properly protected.
Let’s put our renewables in the most suitable locations in a planned and thoughtful way, rather than in response to subsidy grabbing. And lets make sure our wild places are properly protected.
We need a more mature debate about these technologies. If we put up wind turbines or solar panels, we might disagree over where they should go, but we will agree that the wind will still blow and the sun will still shine as before. If we take the water out of a river, however, the whole affected section is diminished and damaged, so we shouldn’t put these schemes in the most sensitive sections of Snowdonia’s remarkable rivers.
What has Snowdonia Society done about it?
- Attended consultations with the developer
- Organised an event to examine the ins and outs of hydropower, at which we gave the developer time to put their case.
- Submitted two detailed objections to the National Park Authority (Full submission, Supplementary submission)
- Submitted comments on water abstraction licences to NRW (Comments)
- Canvassed opinion among local businesses in Betws y Coed
- Worked with other groups and local residents to ensure that the issues are properly scrutinised.Whatever the outcome, it is essential that developments in the most sensitive and special parts of our National Park do not just happen without the right questions being asked. Our pressure has changed the process, if not as yet the outcome.
How you can help
Read the full submission.
Read the Supplementary submission
Sign this petition
Donate now to the Snowdonia Society.
Visit our Facebook page to see what others are saying about the scheme.
Read more on the Save the Conwy website
