Trees help to prevent floods

SURELY it is chickens coming home to roost with the recent flooding in south Wales and elsewhere. Nearly 2m trees have been felled in Wales to accommodate wind farms - not to overlook the tons of concrete used in constructing generator bases and the necessary infrastructure to connect to the Grid.

Huge areas of peat and gorse land disappeared – land which would normally soak up rainfall, thus minimising run-off and threats of flooding. National Resources Wales (NRW) state the number of trees that have been felled for all onshore wind farm development in Wales are as follows – Clocaenog Wind Farm: 307,200; Cefn Croes Wind Farm: 568,000; Pen y Cymoedd and Maerdy Wind Farm: 732,320; Brechfa Wind Farm: 330,880; total number of trees felled for onshore wind farm developments on NRW managed land so far: 1,938,400.

Apart from the greater risk of future flooding, we will have, under windless conditions, the lack of electricity generation coupled with the loss of millions of trees – what brilliant management! Maybe the perceptive and worldly wise Welsh Assembly have plans to plant a few million extremely fast growing trees to compensate for such a shameful loss – or perhaps members of the Assembly are actually planning to escape the repercussions of deforestation in Wales and live on Mars?

Nevertheless, may I take the opportunity to wish yourselves and all your readers a happy and safe new year.

Dave Haskell

Cardigan