How Green Is My Racket

THE CARBON COMMUNITY

This post began when I was directed to the tweet you see below. Thirty-two grand is a lot of money, so what is The Carbon Community?

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Well, basically, it seems to be a husband and wife, plus a second woman, who a few years ago set up both a registered company (limited by guarantee, Inc: 21.10.2019), and a charity (06.01.2020).

The husband and wife are Charles Martin Nicholls and Jane Kentish Nicholls. While the third director / trustee is Heather Blain Allen. Here’s Allen’s Linkedin profile.

There is another company, Carbon Community Trading Ltd (Inc: 26.10.20). Jane Nicholls is not a director, and the sole share is held by The Carbon Community.

The use of ‘Trading’ suggests carbon sequestration.

Both companies, and all three directors, give as their address a private property in Windsor, Berkshire, which I take to be the Nicholls’ family home.

In addition, Heather Allen is a director of Carbon Copy Network, which claims to promote ‘local climate action’. This is also a registered company, limited by guarantee (Inc: 14.11.2019).

Most of the projects mentioned on the website are in Wales. Which is odd seeing as none of those involved seems to have any connection with Wales.

Among the other three directors is Claudia Michaela Jaksch, who works for Policy Connect, ” . . . a cross-party think tank. We improve people’s lives by influencing public policy”.

In other words, lobbyists. Who could operate in Wales without having to register.

Were the people whose lives Policy Connect claim to be ‘improving’ ever consulted?

I find that a rather sinister example of the zealots’ “We know what’s best for you”.

The usual mantras from the Carbon Community website. In translation they read: ‘Put farmers out of business – free up land for people like us’; ‘Stick solar panels on your roof – that will never repay the capital outlay’; ‘Get poor people off the roads – making more room for those of us who can afford electric cars’. Click to open enlarged in separate tab.

Moving on . . . what land has The Carbon Community bought?

THE LAND IN QUESTION

Here’s a map of the area where The Carbon Community operates. Close to the Heart of Wales (Swansea-Shrewsbury) rail line and the famous Cynghordy viaduct.

Here’s the map in PDF format. You may wish to keep it open in a separate window because I’ll be referring to it regularly.

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Let’s start by going back to the Companies House entry for The Carbon Community. Click on the ‘Charges’ tab and you’ll bring up an outstanding charge for a £200,000 loan made by director Heather Allen. Here in PDF format.

Scroll down to page 32, and above the signatures you’ll see a number of Land Registry title documents mentioned. These are all relevant to this article. (Plus another I dug up elsewhere.)

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Let’s look at them in more detail:

CYM119517 “Land and buildings at Penlan, Cynghordy, Llandovery (SA20 OLW)”. You’ll notice that this title is in the name of Philip Michael Stoyle (of whom more later).

WA851663 “Land at Cynghordy, Llandovery”. This is indeed owned by The Carbon Community, and the lender is named as ‘Heather Allen’. And here we have a plan. Unfortunately, it came in four parts at the end of the title document. I’ve done my best to stitch them together.

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What you see outlined in red is a large area of land lying east of Coed Alltygyrnig, which you’ll find in the centre of the OS map above.

Note also, page 3, paragraph 2: ‘”(21.04.2020) The price stated to have been paid on 20 March 2020 for the land in this title and in CYM119497, CYM119512, CYM800919 and WA852717 was £600,000.”

Which means that Heather Allen’s £200,000 only covered a third of the purchase price. Did the other directors put in £200,000 each? Or did the money come from somewhere else?

Here are the other relevant titles. (Or maybe just the ones I’ve found!)

CYM119512 “Land at Llanerchindda, Cynghordy, Llandovery”. Again, there’s no map, though the land referred to may be included in the plan with WA851663. Llanerchindda can be located centre-left top on the OS map.

CYM119497 “Land lying on the west side of Gwern-Gwinau, Cynghordy, Llandovery”. There is a plan attached, which refers to a footbridge across Afon Brân.

WA852717 “Land at Cynghordy, Llandovery”. This lies to the south east of the main holding shown in the plan with WA851663 (above), separated by a field or two, and backing onto the railway line and Coed Gallt-y-gyrnig on the east.

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CYM800919 “Land at Penlan, Cynghordy’, Llandovery”. This plot was bought by The Carbon Community in March 2020, and must be somewhere near Penlan or ‘Pen-y-lan’ where we earlier found Philip Michael Stoyle.

THE PLANNING APPLICATION

While I was idly Googling various names that crop up in this narrative I ran across a planning application for Gallt y Gyrnig, elsewhere known as ‘Alltygyrnig’, even ‘Galt-y-gyrnig’. Here it is.

The planning application was for the, “Reinstatement of abandoned farmhouse along with the conversion of an adjoining redundant outbuilding to provide additional residential accommodation”.

Full planning approval was granted 21.10.2021.

That’ll cost a few quid.

The map that accompanied the planning application shows that the land in question is across the railway line, and south east of Coed Alltygyrnig.

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Even though the planning application was submitted by Charles Nicholls, the property is owned by John Lloyd of Cynghordy Hall. The local Big House.

Has an arrangement been entered into between Nicholls and Lloyd that if planning permission was obtained then Gallt y gyrnig would be rented, leased, or bought?

In total, we’re looking at a substantial amount of land bought or being eyed up by The Carbon Community. And there may be more.

NEIGHBOURS

I earlier mentioned Philip Michael Stoyle, who owns or lives in Penlan or Pen-y-lan. I can’t positively link him with The Carbon Community, but you never know.

What I do know is that he set up two companies in 2014, both with addresses in England. Adviseinc Ltd (26.02.2014) and Philinc Ltd (30.06.2014). Adviseinc still uses a London address, whereas Philinc switched to Penlan in June 2017.

Neither company would be worth dwelling on were it not for the fact that the other director of Philinc is a Paul Horsman. Possibly this Paul Horsman of Greenpeace.

The adjoining parcels of land owned by Stoyle, at Penlan, and Cynghordy Hall at Coed Alltygyrnig, would complement what The Carbon Community already owns.

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On the left we see the land to the east of Penlan / Pen-y-lan owned by Philip Michael Stoyle. This fits atop Coed Gallt-y-gyrnig, owned by Cynghordy Hall.

BUSINESS BACKGROUND

When someone pops up on my radar I like to get at the background. And so it was with Charles Martin Nicholls of The Carbon Community.

To make sense of this whole story we should focus on three companies using the ‘SeeWhy’ name. These are SeeWhy Software Ltd, SeeWhy Holdings Ltd, and SeeWhy (UK) Ltd.

All three went belly-up and were finally dissolved in 2016 and 2017 owing millions of pounds to assorted creditors. The last Summary of Liabilities for SeeWhy Software quoted a deficiency of £5,465,866.50.

The last to go under was SeeWhy (UK) Ltd. The only share held by . . . SAP (UK) Ltd, a subsidiary of German company SAP SE (Societas Europaea).

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Charles Nicholls’ background is obviously in computer software, yet he seems to have reinvented himself as an environmentalist!

Or maybe not. For I suggest this ‘transformation’ can be explained by looking more closely at his links with SAP, and how SAP now links with The Carbon Community.

One obvious link is that SeeWhy was bought by SAP in 2014.

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Which means that when the SeeWhy companies with which Charles Nicholls was involved folded, in 2016 and 2017, he was perhaps, if indirectly, working for SAP.

SAP SE

SAP SE is a German software company. Wikipedia says: “SAP is the largest non-American software company by revenue, the world’s third-largest publicly-traded software company by revenue, and the largest German company by market capitalization”.

Possibly the largest company in Germany. Wow!

SAP SE is mentioned on The Carbon Community website but of course that rang no bells for me. But as we’ve seen, it is mentioned in connection with Seewhy (UK) Ltd, and then again in the Annual Report submitted to the Charity Commission, where we read:

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And while The Carbon Community has relatively little to say about SAP, this major international player is proud to trumpet its involvement in Wales.

In December 2020 the SAP website announced

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In March 2021 we learnt: “SAP announced its intention to become carbon-neutral in its own operations by the end of 2023 – two years earlier than previously stated.”

Later in the same announcement we read: ” . . . at local level. SAP UK has partnered with The Carbon Community to plant the SAP Forest UK in the Brecon Beacans (sic) in Wales, with the aim of capturing just under 2,000 tonnes of carbon over the next 35 years.”

In June last year, we read that SAP was investing money in The Carbon Community.

I believe SAP is the real owner of what The Carbon Community calls ‘Glandwr Forest’. Which explains “SAP Forest UK” in the panel above.

I also feel confident enough to set out the following scenario:

Wanting to cash in on the Welsh carbon capture scam SAP turned to Charles Martin Nicholls and he set up The Carbon Community as a front.

If I’m right, then most of the money to buy land around Cynghordy came from SAP. Heather Allen had to contribute £200,000 because she lacked the SAP connection.

She may be representing a different party.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Among the documents on the Carmarthenshire planning portal relating to Gallt y gyrnig I found a letter of objection. It poignantly illustrates the tragedy being engineered in the Welsh countryside.

” . . . grandson . . . eleventh generation of farming in the valley . . . tradition of farming . . . I am not in posession of a computer or email”.

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Oh, I bet the smart-arses sniggered when they read that.

But the farm is gone. Bought by persons fronting for a German software giant with the ‘Welsh Government’ chipping in to the tune of £32k. With perhaps more to come.

Paying a company this big and wealthy to buy Welsh land is beyond absurd; it is obscene.

The Glastir Woodland Creation scheme must be reformed. Payments should be made to established farmers only; in order to keep Welsh families on the land, and to defend our identity and our communities.

How many more little outfits, and ‘community’ ventures, apparently tootling along on donations and volunteers, are in fact fronting for corporate leviathans? Does the ‘Welsh Government’ know? Does the ‘Welsh Government’ care?

As a first step in cleaning up the carbon capture racket I urge the ‘Welsh Government’ and Natural Resources Wales to insist on the return of all funding given to SAP via The Carbon Community.

Finally, in the best interests of Wales – and their own credibility – those speaking on behalf of the self-styled ‘Welsh Government’ need to stop pretending that what I’ve described here isn’t happening.

♦ end ♦

© Royston Jones 2022


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David Thomas

I used to live in llanerch-hindda around 40 years ago and knew the family living in penlan at the time. Just doing a quick property history search of penlan but can find no sale history and oddly the last sale recorded was in may 2020 for £12 500 on Zoopla, but gives the current property value as around £400 000. ??

Andy

Great article Jac – It is obvious Wales is being targeted for carbon offset, with computer companies leading the charge, but the quote below from a recent BBC article sums up the ignorance and denial that is prevalent in the Bay. I assume the political angle is drawing attention to ‘valuable Welsh farmland’ not being ‘sold off’, whilst ignoring the fact that Welsh taxpayers money is being pocketed by proxy purchases of woodlands on family farms.

‘However, the Welsh government has said there is “very little evidence” valuable Welsh farmland is being sold off to investors to offset their carbon footprints.’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61039303

Dafis

These global corporates are waging an undeclared war on Wales and maybe other parts of the UK. That the UK Gov is content with this green tinted scam is not surprising but finding that the Bay regime and its counterpart in Scotland are also busy aiding and abetting the ransacking of its land assets is downright scandalous. Agriculture and rural communities may need to diversify although the need for more locally sourced foods and less long distance importing of faddish fodder for the entitled classes is blatantly obvious.

If land needs to be “redeployed” then some thought should be given to encouraging existing farmers,not corporate chancers, into sectors such as this described recently in a BBC article.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61081542

Just one of many potential areas of activity which cry out for the class of financial backing from government currently reserved for greenwash practitioners and their globalist backers.

Dafis

Where I wrote of “…. long distance importing of faddish fodder for the entitled classes” I think you can take it for granted that those entitled classes include the pampered cliques in Y Senedd and the toxic bubble that surrounds it. At best the Bay cliques are indifferent to the viability of agriculture and the farming communities. At worst they are out to destroy the sector.

As for representation of farmers the professional advocacy species that end up filling jobs at FUW and NFU are invariably cut from the same kind of cloth as the subversive faggot band that inhabit the Bay.

Dafis

I am a bit surprised that this article has not stimulated much response so far. Are the kind of people who are normally alert to these kinds of threats punched out, on their knees and giving up ? Have they gone away for a few days to a place where carbon capture, carbon credits and all the other greenwash scammery do not have such a high priority ?

Also you do not appear to stimulate an urge to respond among those who are completely sold on the green gospels, who are anxious to tear up more of our land in pursuit of the false economy, or hooked into a blind hatred of traditional rural land use preferring to cover it with trees or tear down trees and cover the land with turbines and concreted infrastructure.

Maybe debate will recommence at the end of the week.

David Robins

0 comment = 100% agreement, at least from me.

Now, what do we do about it?