Brecon & Radnor Branch of CPRW

CPRW Brecon & Radnor branch has made a petition to the Welsh Assembly Petitions Committee about better regulation of the Intensive Poultry Farming Industry in Wales to protect the environment for future generations. Please follow this link to see and SIGN THE PETITION.

Petitioning the Assembly is one of the most direct ways in which members of the public can raise matters of concern or suggest new policies and different ways of doing things. If we can collect 5,000 signatures or more, the Petitions Committee will automatically consider requesting a plenary debate – where all 60 Assembly Members will be able to discuss the issue.

We have tried to discuss the risks with Powys Planning Authority and done our best to achieve better regulation via the emerging Powys LDP but, so far, the rate of approval has not changed and the Council have rejected the idea of a proper policy to provide environmental protection and clarity for all parties.

Our data about applications to Powys Planning Department for Intensive Poultry Units shows that there have been 99 APPLICATIONS in the last 30 months with ONLY ONE refused. We produced an interactive map of all Powys applications known to us which can be freely accessed with a lot more information on our website. There are now (including units in planning) 7 million chickens in Powys at any one time.

Free-range egg developments, which make up 72 of the 99 applications, are usually too small to require an NRW permit (threshold 40,000 birds) and yet, according to research by NRW to be published very soon, they are even more environmentally damaging than the larger broiler units.

Ammonia concentrations and nitrogen deposition in much of the Powys countryside are now surpassing the critical levels for some rare lower plant species to survive but yet more intensive farms are being crammed into saturated areas. Our steep valleys and high rainfall mean that effluents and manure are running off into the rivers. Chicken farms are being approved regardless of inappropriate sites near sensitive rivers and ancient woodlands, inadequate range-sizes, proximity to neighbours and the cumulative impacts they will have with all the nearby chicken sheds.

The Brecon & Radnor Branch joins with the Montgomery Branch to ask you to PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION and publicize it as widely as you can in your own area to help make this industry safer and more sustainable for all of our Welsh countryside.

Thank you.

The Powys Local Development Plan is still heading towards the finish line. The Inspector, Nicola Gulley, has decided that a further public Hearing Session is needed to look again at renewable energy policy.

The hearing is on 10th January 2018 and will begin at 10.00 a.m. The venue is the Media Resource Centre (MRC Wales Ltd.), Oxford Road, Llandrindod Wells, Powys LD1 6AH. Media Centre map.

The agenda for the session can be found on the LDP Examination website.

Representations to the Matters Arising Changes public consultation can be found on this link and hearing session statements by the participants will be uploaded to the hearing website sometime after the 15th December.

CPRW Brecon & Radnor Branch and CPRW Montgomeryshire will be participants in the hearing session with the legal support of planning barrister Tina Douglass.

Also participating are several representatives of the renewables industry.

Please put 10th January 2018 in your diaries and please do come along to the hearing session if you possibly can. Unless you are already registered as a participant, you may only spectate but a big public turnout to the Hearing Session would demonstrate to the Inspector the continuing degree of public concern about this area of planning policy. This may well be the last opportunity for any public involvement in the LDP.

If possible, please let the Programme Officer, Tracey Smith, know if you intend to attend:  Email: tracey.smith@Powys.gov.uk; Tel: 07919 396609

In the meantime wishing you all a very happy, and warm, Christmas,

Margaret Tregear
CPRW Brecon & Radnor Committee

This Post is a summary of our new web page with full details about the Hendy wind farm application, and on how to help us and how to object to the application.

CPRW Brecon & Radnor Branch are urgently appealing for your help.

Powys Council turned down the Hendy Wind Farm application, for 7 x 110m turbines on Llandegley Rhos, in April this year. The developers are now appealing against the Council’s decision on grounds that the national need for renewable energy should override negative local impacts.

CPRW Brecon & Radnor Branch will be participating in the Inspector’s inquiry to support the Council’s case and bring further evidence. This needs the right professional help to present the best case and give us the greatest chance of success. We have been lucky to be able to engage an expert planning barrister and professional landscape consultant. We now urgently need to raise the funds to cover their costs.

Many local people will also wish to make their own objections. Please follow the link to the new web page to find details of the locations of documents and the procedure for submitting an objection.

If the developers are successful in overturning the Council’s decision, this will open the door to wind development right across the Welsh countryside.

This is a critical test case which we cannot afford to lose. Your help is incredibly important.

Thank you.

We have two big updates for you with this Post. Summaries of the updates will be found here in the Post; full details can be found by following the relevant links.

1. Powys Local Development Plan: Hearing Sessions Summary
   
2. Ponds, Rivers and Poultry Seminar Update (see below)

 

1. POWYS LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN: HEARING SESSIONS – SUMMARY

A synopsis of our Summary of the LDP Hearing Sessions is given here. For the full Summary and additional links please check out this page in the main part of our site.

LDP Hearing Sessions:
The hearing sessions of the Powys Local Development Plan which began on 28th March were completed on 21st July. This was a very busy period for the branch as we were participants in many sessions and attended others. In addition to arguing for a more rational renewable energy policy, we have, together with CPRW National and CPRW planning barrister, Tina Douglass, presented evidence and argued for the better protection of strategic assets, landscape and the natural environment. CPRW B&R branch have at the Inspector’s request, submitted a suggested policy wording for intensive livestock units and argued for improved planning control of anaerobic digesters. We have also put forward arguments and evidence on many other topics.

Renewable Energy:
Powys published entirely new renewable energy evidence in the middle of the hearing process, on the 12^th May:

• A new renewable energy assessment from consultants AECOM (third version);
• A landscape sensitivity study of the resulting Solar Local Search Areas from consultants, Enplan;
• Revision of the proposed renewable energy policy RE1.

The new evidence has led to:

• No designation of wind Local Search Areas (LSAs);
• Identification by AECOM of a potential 33 solar LSAs;
• Reduction of the number of solar LSAs from 33 to 20 following Enplan’s landscape sensitivity study.

There are significant problems with both AECOM and Enplan reports. Most seriously, AECOM’s proposed LSAs contain substantial proportions of land unsuitable for development while Enplan’s study has been carried out without reference to AECOM’s identification of ‘constraints’, treating all land within LSAs as suitable for development. Michelle Bolger, CPRW’s landscape consultant, found that the Enplan report consistently underrates landscape sensitivity.

Welsh Government explicitly confirmed that there will be a presumption of approval for renewable applications within LSAs although Powys has consistently denied this

Powys have revised their proposed RE policy, but while CPRW and residents have effected some improvements, it is particularly concerning that the revised policy remains permissive of large scale wind and solar developments outside the Strategic Search Areas (wind) and Local Search Areas (solar).

What Happens Next?
The Council will publish a “Schedule of Matters Arising Changes” by 19th September. The Council has also proposed holding Public Consultation Events – though no details are yet available.

Public Consultation on these new revisions to the LDP and the new REA will be open
from 19^th September until 5pm 30^th October.

As with the Further Focussed Changes, anyone can write supporting or objecting to the changes. All representations will be published and seen by the Inspector who may decide to hold another set of Hearings or proceed directly to her examination.

The full LDP Update can be found here.

2. PONDS, RIVERS AND POULTRY SEMINAR – AUGUST 2017 UPDATE

A synopsis of our Update from the Ponds, Rivers and Poultry Seminar is given here. For the full Update on last Autumn’s Seminar from 3/8/2017, and additional links, please check out this page in the main part of our site.

In summary, the update reports on:

1. The submission by CPRW Brecon & Radnor Branch, at the Planning Inspector’s request, of a suggested policy for intensive livestock units for potential inclusion in the Powys Local Development Plan;
2. Update of our online map of intensive poultry units in Powys;
3. Recent coverage on Countryfile, BBC online news and in the Guardian of intensive livestock farming and environmental impacts;
4. Report by the Sustainable Food Trust on the hidden costs of cheap food;
5. Mapping of intensive livestock units across the UK.

The full Seminar Update can be found here.

 

CPRW Brecon & Radnor Branch have learnt that  the review of Welsh designated landscapes called “Future Landscapes, Delivering for Wales” will be discussed in the Senedd on Tuesday 6th June.

We are deeply concerned for Brecon Beacons National Park, most of which lies in our area, but  also for the two other National Parks in Wales: Snowdonia and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and also Welsh Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs).

The Welsh Government plans to create new legislation regarding National Parks and  AONBs in Wales. The Future Landscapes Wales (FLW) Report proposals could see the Welsh National Parks’ status change to Protected Landscapes (as defined by the IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature), which is a lower protected status.

This would mean that it would change the legal framework for the Welsh National Parks to prioritise development of tourism, economic development and renewable energy, at the expense of the Parks’ existing status as bastions of unspoilt nature. Although all the above can be regarded as worthy objectives, in this instance it would be at the cost of protected landscapes and the quiet enjoyment for which national parks were originally established, and could have a serious impact on nature and wildlife in the areas.

Furthermore, the FLW Report sidelines the Sandford Principle, a key part of the legal framework for UK National Parks, which asserts the primacy of Conservation issues in cases of conflict of interest.

We are asking you to a) email your Assembly Member urgently to tell them that you would like them to support the Plaid Cymru amendments for the debate, which are:
1. Add as new point 3 and renumber accordingly:
Regrets that the report does not deal with the Sandford Principle as set out in the Environment Act 1995. [Environment Act 1995]
2. Add as new point at end of motion:
Believes that any change in the legislation governing National Parks should be taken through the Assembly as primary legislation.”

and b) to ask your Assembly Member (see below for contact details) to help to:
•             defend the proper protection and management of, and resources for, the National Parks and AONBs;
•             ensure that conservation and quiet enjoyment of the special qualities of the designated areas remain central to their purposes;
•             ensure that the Sandford principle is retained to secure their protection from inappropriate development;
•             hold a full public consultation before making any changes to the purposes of National Parks or AONBs

Please do this as soon as you get this message. The debate is tomorrow! Thank you.

With best wishes from Brecon and Radnor Branch, Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales.
www.brecon-and-radnor-cprw.wales

Our Assembly Members:
Brecon and Radnorshire: Kirsty.Williams@assembly.wales
Montgomeryshire: Russell.George@assembly.wales

Mid and West Wales Region:
Neil.Hamilton@assembly.wales
Eluned.Morgan@assembly.wales
Simon.Thomas@assembly.wales
Joyce.Watson@assembly.wales