It has taken over 30 years to clear away the devastation caused by 200 years of industrial exploitation in the Welsh valleys and from this huge restoration effort and public investment  came one especially outstanding gem: The Dare Valley Country Park  - the first of its kind in the UK.

The Dare Valley is a spur of the Cynon Valley where the river Dare rises at the foot of the Bwllfa heights in the background. This outstandingly beautiful area was once devastated by the search for coal carrying the blemishes and scars from pits, tram roads, mine heads and coal tips.

A massive effort by the local community and government agencies restored this valley creating Britain's first designated country park.

The result is walks, fishing, lakes, waterfalls, a riding centre, camping, a visitors' centre and a small museum with exhibits ranging from the coal era back past the bronze age to its preglacial past.

This area has recovered so well that it is formally acknowledged as both a "Special Landscape Area" and "a site of Importance for Nature Conservation"

Now that the industrial blight is past wildlife have found the valley once more and it is home to a host of bird varieties, mammals and flora. In particular the Peregrine Falcon which nests on the Bwllfa and  Hen Harriers which winter on the moorland behind.

Once more this haven is under threat.

As was the case with both coal and iron, commercial bodies from outside want to exploit the resources of the Dare Valley not in the interests of the community that restored it but in the interests of their balance sheet. 

Their avowed aim is to ring the Dare Valley with 400 foot high wind turbines, a wind farm or rather a wind factory. We say that we have done our bit over the past 200 years feeding coal and iron to Britain and the world.     It is not our turn again!   So what can you do about it?    

Plenty... 

1. Download the Planning Objection form. Get it here Wait for the download page to open, find the download button half way down. 1 min 30 secs on 56KB
2. Post it to Rhonnda Cynon Taff Council           
3. Email, phone or write your elected representative Go here for their contact details.
4. Email directly from this site to the Planning Department and Cabinet Office Go here for the email forms
5. Get the Powerpoint Presentation then show your friends!
6. Send them the address of this website

Some of the flora and fauna that depend on this peaceful and idylic valley

Birds; Peregrine, Ring Ousel (symbol of the Country Park), Buzzard,  Raven, Whinchat, Skylark, Mistle Thrush, Lesser Redpoll, Redstart, Grey and Pied Wagtails, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Hen Harrier

Plants; A rare species of Yellow Musk, Purple Moor Grass,
assorted liverworts and mosses, Sheep's Bit Scabious, Sheep's Sorrel, Bilbery, Tormentil, Marsh Thistle, Creeping Buttercup, Star Sedge, Starwort, Bog Pimpernel, Bog Stitchwort, Marsh Pennywort, Brooklime, Sneezewort, Lousewort, Round Leaved Sundew.  Trees are typically Alder, Oak, Ash, Rowan, Birch, Willow and Hazel.

Also frogs, grasshoppers, lizards, shrews, field voles, Dor beetles, Brown Trout, Millers Thumbs.

...and of course a lot of people too

This is what the people of Aberdare can expect to see - a true-to-scale representation

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Just some of the residents who object to wind farms in Cynon Valley, Bwllfa Dare, The Darren along the Tan Line designated by Regional Assembly. Green energy. Bird kills.