The Snowdonia Society has courted controversy by attacking the integrity of Natural Resources Wales, and by stating that the Minister, Carl Sargeant, deserves a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Present, obliquely linking him with the character ‘Tiny Tim’.

The minutes of the Annual General Meeting, held on 17th October 2015, take issue with a number of ‘failings’ of Natural Resources Wales, linked predominantly to an application by RWE to develop a hydropower scheme, including:

  • NRW ‘Missing the point’ and failing to address their own concerns on designation
  • NRW not fulfilling their responsibilities
  • Errors in their recommendation to approve a hydropower scheme
  • Very poor monitoring of compliance for hydro schemes

David Firth a Vice-President of the Society, called on those present to criticise NRW, describing the body as “a failure”, and the situation since CCW as “going downhill”.

The Director of the Snowdonia Society was equally outspoken, saying that NRW are not fulfilling their responsibilities and have committed a “clear dereliction of duty”.

Snowdonia Society

The Snowdonia Society appears not to like public money being spent to safeguard the environment – except where they are the beneficiary

The Snowdonia Society lays itself bare to charges of hypocrisy, railing at ‘subsidy-grabbing’ in relation to renewable energy, whilst itself being the beneficiary of generous public sector support from Natural Resources Wales, the Snowdonia National Park Authority and Welsh Government.

John Harold lacks no bravery, here highlighting the support provided by NRW after earlier slamming the institution and the Minister

A further charge of hypocrisy could surround the investments of the Snowdonia Society, which has a vision to proudly protect thriving and cohesive communities that have adapted to climate change, whilst holding funds which invest in Shell, BP, Rio Tinto, Petrobras, Canadian Oil Sands Ltd, Odebrecht Oil and Gas, EdF, CNOOC, Petrofac, Gazprom, Petroleos Mexicanos, BG GroupFreeport MineralsBritish American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco. Their Pimco Global Investment fund also invests in RWE.

Commenting on the issue, David Clubb said:

“The balance between ecology and energy production is extremely delicate, and local planning authorities and Natural Resources Wales play a vital role in maintaining this balance. I have found, without exception, the officers of Natural Resources Wales to be diligent, professional, committed and fully cogniscent of the responsibility they have to maintain the wonderful resources of Wales, whilst respecting our local, national and international obligations to mitigate climate change.

“Hurling insults at the staff and the institution of Natural Resources Wales, and at the Minister responsible, are not a mature way of holding a debate about the merits of renewable energy and the importance of ecological preservation.

“It also seems odd that a charity which purports to protect the environment is a keen investor in funds which would appear to have the diametric opposite goal as part of their everyday business practice. As I read through the list of investments with increasing incredulity, I was half-expecting to see an investment in the arms industry. I confess to being amused to see that the Snowdonia Society will be a beneficiary of the hydro scheme they oppose, as they are also investors in RWE. The phrase ‘mega-hypocrisy’ springs to mind.

[bctt tweet=”The phrase ‘mega-hypocrisy’ springs to mind, as @Snowdonia_Soc invests in oil, gas, tobacco – and RWE”]

“I would like to offer personally to work with the Snowdonia Society to help them understand the importance of renewable energy to Wales, and to see if a more productive dialogue can be reached on the matter.”

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One of a number of funds which enable the Snowdonia Society to support the production of greenhouse gases, tobacco and other pollutants


Edit: After some twitter interaction, David Clubb wrote a LinkedIn post about social media crisis management which you can read here.