A farmer was offered cash and a trip to a lap dancing club if he agreed to having a giant wind turbine on his land, according to council documents.
Officials from a green energy company are trying to persuade landowners in Wales to sign up for wind generators and pylons by offering them financial incentives. But a community council heard one local was offered a night out at a lap dancing club along with a large financial incentive.
Campaigners say it is the latest “dirty trick” by Bute Energy, a Scottish company behind numerous green power schemes in the Welsh countryside.
The energy firm described the apparent offer as an “unsubstantiated and absurd allegation”.
Villagers were shocked by the claim made at a meeting of the Nelson community council near Caerphilly, South Wales, in August last year, where minutes were taken.
The company, which denies the lap dancing allegation, is behind schemes to install wind farms across some of the most beautiful landscapes across Wales.
One local, who did not want to be named, said: “I can just imagine them [Bute Energy] trying to turn the head of a lonely farmer by offering him a night out at a strip joint in Cardiff.”
‘We don’t know what deals they’ve done’
Some landowners have signed up for turbines on their land which could earn them up to £100,000 a year.
But the deals have angered their neighbours, including many who have invested in campsites, rental cottages and B&Bs. They have turned down offers of £5,000 compensation and accuse Bute Energy of dodgy dealing “over the kitchen table” and say the 200ft-high generators will destroy the countryside.
The alleged lap dancing offer was made in the village of Llanfabon, near Caerphilly, which already has a National Grid electricity sub station.
Racehorse trainer Graham Richards, 72, who has lived in Llanfabon for 40 years, said: “I wouldn’t put it past them, it’s the sort of dirty trick they play. I’ve even heard talk of prostitutes being brought here.”
Mr Richards told Mail Online he has been diagnosed with cancer and claims others living close to an electricity sub station at Llanfabon are also being treated for the illness.
Racehorse trainer Graham Richard, 72, lives near an electricity substation in Llanfabon, Wales – ANDREW LLOYD
He confronted Labour’s Lesley Griffiths, the Welsh Minister for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, while she was meeting campaigners against plans to install wind turbines across 60 miles of countryside.
Mr Richards said: “She promised to come back to me, I’ve heard nothing and she has done nothing. This community will be finished if this power company is allowed to do what it likes.”
Jesse Hutchings, 37, a campaigner, said it was “deeply concerning” if Bute Energy was offering lap dancing sessions to entice farmers.
“We have found Bute Energy to be very two-faced in all or dealings with them,” she said. “They claim to be honest and saving the planet … but we don’t know what deals they’ve done over people’s kitchen tables.”
Bute Energy vehemently denied that any landowner had been offered a trip to a lap dancing club as an inducement.
A spokesman said: “This is an unsubstantiated and absurd allegation. None of our team behave in this way. We are solely focussed and dedicated to the work we are doing to deliver much needed clean, green energy for Wales.”
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