Throughout 2004, as the infrastructure of the wind power station was put in place, Cefn Croes was subjected to a relentless campaign of damage and destruction.

Prior to this, and during the development period, hundreds of thousands of trees - many of them premature crops - had been felled. From February 2004, up to 25 huge excavators, earthmovers, "peckers", rock-grinders, and other heavy plant machinery were on site, as new access roads were made, existing forestry tracks widened, gradients levelled, drainage channels dug, huge foundations excavated, peat bogs ripped up, and new "borrow pits" (quarries) opened up to gain roadstone and aggregate. The base sections of the turbine towers were set in steel-reinforced concrete, ready for the turbine towers - imported from General Electric's factory in Northern Germany. The thousands of tons of concrete were made on-site in a plant which was not part of the original planning application.

Numerous planning conditions were violated:

* Water abstraction from the river Wye, in advance of planning permission
* Working on site outside permitted hours
* Unpermitted use of forest roads by construction HGVs
* Variations in width and route of the access roads
* Increase in size of foundation bases and "landing pads" (for giant cranes)
* Disruption of watercourses
* Ripping up rare habitat - upland peat bogs and mire
* Tree-felling during the bird breeding season

Full story at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/%7Ehills/cc/gallery/index.htm