LETTER

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May I suggest to readers that they drive along Trewyddfa Road, Swansea. It overlooks the Swansea Enterprise Zone with its many hectares of bare roofed buildings. Bare of Solar Panels. Then drive along Rhydypandy Road, beyond Morriston, to see all the Chinese Solar Panels, installed by the Spanish, on good agricultural farm land that once held dairy herds and arable crops. What a contrast, all approved by Swansea Councillors using Senedd Policies.  I sat in on Swansea Council’s June Planning Committee, via Zoom, which approved five blocks of Flats in the Dock land area for a Housing Association. Not one Councillor of all Parties asked why they were not clad with solar panels. This meeting can still be seen via your computers. These same Councillors, not so long ago, approved the Swansea Arena building, which consumed a vast amount of concrete. After it was built, I asked Freedom of Information Questions as to how much “Green Concrete” was used. The answer was”Nil”. Concrete manufacturing uses intense carbon produced heat, so much so, that its manufacture causes over 5% of all CO2 global emissions. “Green Concrete” is made using discrete proportional quantities of recycled aggregates that greatly reduces carbon emission sources. Not one Swansea Councillor ever queried that. Now the Senedd has introduced new Planning Guidelines to take away local planning democracy on such issues on renewable energy projects, not that it will make any difference. The serious issue is the disregard of both the Council and the Senedd by covering our green scenic land with ineffective alien structures to satisfy their obsessive rush and haste into so called zero carbon. When the lights go out in the Council Chamber the Councillors may wake up into a real darkness. I. Richard,  Swansea.