out and about - 2018
14 January 2018 .............. Early morning around Mumbles
After the very wet weather of the previous day, it was nice to see the sun this morning, and it produced some super lighting for a while.
This is the sun just as it finally appears above the layer of cloud sitting above the horizon, looking out past the hill with the coastguard station on it -
Up on the hill now at the back of Mumbles lighthouse -
Down on the pier now, and a lower view of Mumbles Lighthouse -
A while later, and I am part of the way along the super cycle track round the edge of Swansea Bay - a layer of high level cloud has started to cover the sun, and it produced the most amazing lighting effect looking back towards Mumbles pier and lighthouse -
I am afraid that I still don`t understand why it seems to be that so many people seem to think that it is a good idea for Swansea Bay to be totally destroyed by the building of a tidal lagoon - it would forever more destroy the view of Swansea Bay - the proposed lagoon is huge, and from wherever you look out to Swansea Bay the lagoon will dominate the view.
Maybe it was the promise of cheap electricity for the people who live in Swansea - but that suggestion would appear to be highly divisive, because Swansea Bay goes all the way down to Porthcawl, and I don`t remember any mention of the inhabitants of Port Talbot or Porthcawl being included in it - I don`t even see how it could have happened anyway, because the lagoon company is a generating company, and not a retail supply company. I wonder if the cost of giving away all that cheap electricity is included in the business plan - it would certainly whack the projected profits a fair bit. I haven`t heard anything about it recently, maybe the idea has been quietly ditched.
Maybe it was the promise of a big lagoon that could be used for water sports or whatever - I don`t really see how that would work, since inside the lagoon it would be tidal just like outside - so for a lot of the time a significant part of the lagoon would be dry, just like outside the lagoon, only time shifted by a few hours.
Maybe it was the promise of people being able to walk or cycle out along the sea wall - not sure how that would work, there is a big cost to the lagoon company in having public access out around the sea wall - which again is going to whack the profit margin a fair bit. Safety is another issue - what happens if someone falls in or goes swimming when the turbines are running - one dead person, joining all the dead fish and seals and porpoises and dolphins that will also get killed.
Maybe it is the promise of these thousands of jobs that come with it - I don`t really see what they are all going to do - most of the construction would be done from ships that are already crewed, so there wouldn`t be many new jobs on them.
Maybe it is the claim that Swansea would be become a world leader in turbine construction - the only trouble with that idea is that as far as I am aware the only other place in the world with a tidal range similar to that in the Bristol Channel is Newfoundland - if most of the world doesn`t have a tidal range big enough to generate electricity, then I don`t see how there will be much demand for turbines.
Maybe it isn`t the case that so many people actually want the lagoon - maybe it is the case that the vociferous few in favour of the lagoon have created so much hype and noise that the silent majority who are against it are just that - they are silent, afraid to stick their heads above the parapets.
Can anyone truthfully claim that a seawall made of giant sandbags and a bit of rock cladding is going to last for 120 years - they can`t, and I`ll bet it won`t, the sea will destroy it long before that - I wonder if I`ll still be alive when it happens, then I`ll be able to say I told you so.
I haven`t heard any comment about how they are going to stop the lagoon silting up so much that it ceases to generate any electricity.
I haven`t seen any comment about the silting up that is probably going to occur round Baglan Bay, Witford Point, and the estuary of the river Neath, and also around the Tawe barrage and the Eastern Breakwater, once the sea wall of the lagoon blocks the tidal currents that swirl round Swansea Bay.
I wonder what will happen now that we have Carwyn Jones waving his cheque book around trying to put £100 million of taxpayers money into the coffers of the lagoon company - it may be called Welsh government money, but it isn`t, it is taxpayers money.
I wonder how many of the electorate would be happy about Carwyn Jones handing over £100 million of taxpayers money to a private company that has absolutely no responsibility or accountability to the taxpayer.
History is littered with politicians who went from the top of the tree to unemployed in the space of 24 hours - I am not going to suggest that any politician would do it, but it might be quite tempting for a politician with the requisite authority to do a little future-proofing by spending a bit of taxpayers money to buy a future position in commerce or industry.
Maybe Carwyn Jones could try lying in the road in the pouring rain with a broken hip bone for 4 hours whilst waiting for an ambulance.
Maybe, just maybe, he may then think that a better home for that £100 million might be the NHS in Wales, which the current Welsh goverment seems so determined to completely ignore.
I don`t think I`ll hold my breath.
And long may the Westminster mandarins go on having doubts about the viability of what I believe would be an environmental disaster of a project.
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