Of course the
cheque is in the post. Of course the impacts will be minimal. Of course the
landscape will be restored to its previous condition.
It all seemed
to start so well in the dry weather of last spring, but then came the rains and
pretty soon it looked like a battlefield. The 38km gas pipeline from Blaenau Ffestiniog
to Pwllheli passes through the Vale of Ffestiniog and it shows; looking down,
from the mountains and cliffs above, the incision looks more like a canal than
a pipeline.
There is a
summary of the pipeline replacement programme on the Wales and West Utilities
website which says: ‘one of the
objectives of reinstatement of the pipeline route is to return the visual and
physical integrity of the landscape, as closely as possible, to its previous
condition’......’To reduce potential damage to soil structure, whenever possible, topsoil movements
will only be carried out when conditions are considered suitable’.
Looking at
the state of the land in February 2012 it seems this was not possible! When
will these and other aspects of reinstatement or restoration be complete?
On 13th
February the Department of Energy and Climate Change approved the construction
of a 22km gas pipeline from Llanwrin to
Dolgellau. Energy Minister Charles
Hendry said ‘In approving
this pipeline I have made sure the plans meet stringent and comprehensive
environmental standards.’
Good luck to
you in southern Snowdonia!
We might
think we’ve had a rough ride in the Ffestiniog area as contractors sought to
bury small pipes of 150mm diameter. In 2007 gas pipes of 1200mm diameter, eight times bigger, were
laid through 36km of the Brecon Beacons National Park. If you’d like to know
how that went, there’s an excellent article in the spring edition of NaturCymru to be published on 15th March.
