What really happened at Mynydd y Betws? (Part 2)

by Sandy Gerrard

The Method Statement presumably agreed by the local planning authority as a condition of the wind farm development at Mynydd y Betws makes sobering reading. The first thing of note is that there is no mention anywhere within its 19 pages of the stone alignment. Instead each page of the statement refers to 82 Gretton Road, Winchcombe. This may in part explain the content of the report and its failure to mention the heritage asset that had precipitated activation of the planning condition.

Amongst my “favourites” are the details of staffing and the timetable for the work which state: “The field team for will consist normally consist of up to 15 staff (1 Site Manager/Senior Project Officer; 3 Project Supervisors and 11 Archaeologists” and“It is envisaged that Stages 1 and 2 of the project will require approximately six weeks fieldwork. Analysis of the results and subsequent reporting will take up to a further three to four weeks.”

Given that the examination of the whole of the stone alignment was actually completed by a couple of people in a couple of days this anomaly is perhaps something that should concern those that signed up to this agreement. Bearing in mind that the written agreement asked for by the Planning Inspector states that 450 person days of fieldwork will be carried out and instead only a maximum of 7 days were actually taken this would seem to be a discrepancy too far.

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See Part 1 here

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