EIA - a Tool for Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Mynyddy Gwair Wind Farm 

Haoyue ZHANG 

Department of Civil Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074,CHINA 

Abstract: Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a tool which aims to make developments better by iden-tifying, avoiding, and mitigating potential negative environmental impacts of projects and other action. In a case study, EIA for Mynydd y Gwair wind farm is analysed to evaluate the importance and effectiveness of EIA within wind farm planning debates, as well as assess to what extent the EIA process has improved the sustainability of the proposal. The analysis shows that although the EIA is important, but the public and stakeholders express concerns about bias and about the inability of EIA to address some development prob-lems and wind farm decommissioning issues adequately. Moreover, the research also analysis key issues which EIA impedes the sustainable development of wind farm project. The paper questions the assumption that EIA is a universally applicable tool, and argues that its effectiveness should be analysed in the context of specific development sectors. 

Keywords: Environmental impact assessment; Sustainable development; Social participation; Stakeholder relationship; Environmental mitigation