Y Bryn Wind Farm Limited v The Welsh Ministers

Facts

Y Bryn Wind Farm Limited applied under section 62D of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended by the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 and determined pursuant to The Developments of National Significance (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, for planning permission for up to 18 wind turbines up to 250 metres to blade tip, with new access tracks and highway junctions, at Bryn and Penhydd forests between Port Talbot and Maesteg. The scheme had a capacity of up to 129.6 MW, sufficient for the annual electricity needs of over 85,700 average homes, deliverable by 2029 under an agreed grid connection. The northern block at Penhydd lay within an area pre-assessed for wind energy under Future Wales: The National Plan; the southern block, within Margam Forest, was not pre-assessed, and most turbines lay within the Registered Landscape of Special Historic Interest of Mynydd Margam. A planning inspector appointed by the Welsh Ministers held hearing sessions and a site visit in June 2025, heritage having been removed from the hearings agenda following a statement of common ground with Cadw. His report of 7 August 2025 found significant benefits but unacceptable adverse impacts on landscape character, visual amenity and heritage. The Welsh Ministers refused permission on 21 November 2025. The claimant challenged that refusal under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, permission having been granted by Mould J on five grounds.