Ammanford News
South Wales Guardian Opinion
6:50am Wednesday 8th February 2012
THEcounty council or, more specifically, experts acting on their behalf, have been quick – almost too quick – to maintain construction of the Mynydd y Betws wind farm will not affect the newlydiscovered Neolithic stone row on the mountain.
And yet almost in the same breath they concede that “around five metres” of the stone alignment has already been destroyed by the new access road!
That statement alone is hardly likely to placate those already concerned by the obvious threat posed to rare archaeological finds.
The local authority was reacting to claims by one of the UK’s leading heritage law experts that work on the 15-turbine wind farm should halt immediately, to allow a full survey of the area to be carried out. But opponents of the multi-million pound scheme are in no mood to be fobbed off and it is certain that some very searching questions will be asked in the weeks ahead.
●THE OLD Cross Hotel, the Old Mill, Pontaman, the College Street police station… When considering iconic buildings and monuments Ammanford has lost over the years, the list seems endless.
So it is refreshing to hear Betws county councillor Audrey Jones and local community councillors have decided that the stone arch at Betws Park should be retained as a vital part of the town’s heritage.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, years of vandalism and the passage of time mean the 200- year-old arch is now a mere shadow of its former self.
So moves to arrange a site meeting with county planners to draw up a plan for action are to be welcomed. We have lost too much of our heritage as it is.