Deposit Draft Local Development Plan - Rhondda Cynon Taf

Hydroelectricity - Small Hydro Turbines placed within the flow of waterproduce mechanical energy that causes the turbines to rotate at high speed.The turbines drive a generator that converts the mechanical energy intoelectrical energy. The amount of hydroelectric power that can be generated isrelated to the water flow and the vertical distance (known as head) throughwhich the water has fallen. In the smallest hydroelectricity schemes, the headof water can be a few metres; in the larger schemes the power station, whichhouses the turbines, is often hundreds of metres below the reservoir. Usefulpower may be produced from even a small stream. The key issue relating tohydroelectric is to maintain the watercourse’s ecology by restricting theproportion of the total flow diverted through the turbine.Key Employment Sites - Sites have been identified to play a major long-termrole in the economy, where employment generating activities will beencouraged and where coordinated activity and investment programmes arerequired to realise their full potential.Local Employment Sites - Local Employment Sites are employment sitesdesigned to accommodate the needs of a wide range of types and sizes ofemployment and warehousing units. They are expected to be more that onehectare in size, and located in or adjacent to the edge of towns. Localemployment sites should be located in areas where the community has accessto it in order to reduce distances travelled to work.Locally Distinct - Local distinctiveness is about a sense of place and ourrelationship with it. It makes one place unique from another. Localdistinctiveness might be shaped by the architecture, skylines and the socialand economic life derived from industries. The products of these industries,such as the local yellow and red bricks, may define the detail and uses of thebuildings and the landscape around them. Identifying, understanding andresponding to local distinctiveness is more likely to lead to proposals that arepositive in respect of the pattern of the built and natural environments andthe social and physical characteristics of the locality.Microgeneration Equipment – Microgeneration is the production of heat orpower on a very small scale, when compared to the outputs of a typical fossilfuelledpower station. Microgeneration equipment can harness the power ofthe sun, the wind and natural river flow.Heat generating equipment includes:• Solar thermal• Ground source heat pumps• Air source heat pumps • BiomassElectricity generating equipment includes:• Solar PV (photovoltaics) • Wind turbines• Small hydroMitigation – Involves taking action to reduce the impact of human activityon the climate system, primarily through reducing greenhouse emissions.Microgeneration systems use the power where it is made, which means theyare much more efficient as transmission and distribution losses are virtuallyeliminated.Preferred Area of Known Mineral Resource - Preferred Areas of KnownMineral Resource are classified by Minerals Planning Policy Wales. They aredesignated in locations where known mineral resources exist, which wouldalso have some commercial potential, and where planning permission mightreasonably be anticipated.Preserving Our Heritage, Building Our Future147