“Will Carmarthenshire County Council support a campaign for a Dyffryn Towy AONB; The suggested boundaries of this would be based on the area identified as “Outstanding Landscape” on Natural Resources Wales’ LANDMAP assessment.”
Minutes:
“Will Carmarthenshire County Council support a campaign for a Dyffryn Towy AONB; The suggested boundaries of this would be based on the area identified as “Outstanding Landscape” on Natural Resources Wales’ LANDMAP assessment.”
Response by Councillor. Ann Davies, Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs and Planning Policy:-
“Thank you for your question. As you know the designation of an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) falls within the remit of NRW and Welsh Government Ministers, and although Carmarthenshire will have a consultation role, we are not the decision makers. Also, may I remind you Havard that a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty does not stop pylons from being built on these sites, such as Eryri and Bannau Brycheiniog, and also an SLA didn’t stop Wind Turbines being built on the top of Mynydd y Betws.
The Cambrian Mountains AONB group have been working on their application for around 2 years and asked from the Council’s support as the northern end of the County falls within the area. They have submitted their application and have been told by Welsh ministers that the application will not be assessed until 2025/26 at the earliest, and then only if it went into the new Government’s forward works programme.
Therefore, they have been working on this since 2021 and may have a response by 2026. Bearing in mind that Bute and Green Gen hope to submit a DNS application by 2024 – the timescale is not on our side in this matter, and as you know a DNS application is again decided by Welsh Government and not this County Council.
Going back to the question of AONB, before submitting a response to the Cambrian Mountains, I consulted with all three Community Councils which fall within the boundary of this application. All three Community Councils came back with a negative response. One of which is within the Usk/Tywi Valley route. Their main concerns were planning applications, as it is perceived that obtaining planning for a second Rural Enterprise Home or for additional sheds for lambing and calving would be much more difficult in an area designated as an AONB. The FUW and NFU Cymru are against additional AONBs, as are National Parks for this reason.
Can I assure you Havard, that I am determined to do all that I can to protect our special landscapes across the county whilst also ensuring that local farms and enterprises are able to develop and support jobs within our rural areas and to provide a vibrant economy for all our residents.
Therefore, before making a definitive decision on this matter, I feel that it is vitally important that consultation takes place with affected residents and businesses. It is vital that anybody proposing an AONB in the Tywi Valley consults with those who live in the area, those who run businesses in the area, elected representatives of the local community councils, elected representatives of this County Council, and organisations such as the farming unions and other interested parties. Diolch”.
Supplementary question by Mr Havard Hughes:-
“At the last meeting you mentioned that the special landscape areas will be replaced by guidance on how Carmarthenshire County Council will, in future, assess its landscape areas. This will provide a presentation on the consultation and advice based on the LDP. This has left uncertainty and concern amongst residents. When will this be published? And what are you going to do with it following the consultation?
Response by Councillor. Ann Davies, Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs and Planning Policy to the supplementary question:-
“Thank you for your question Havard. I just want to make a quick note before I answer your second question, and I note in your press release immediately after your last visit here to the Chamber, that you made reference that the “SLA designation saved the Abergwili stretch from having pylons and resulted in undergrounding”. May I suggest that you check your facts before submitting to ‘Wales Online’ in future as Legal Opinion does not mention SLAs in its concluding decision. There are many other reasons, but not the designation of a Special Landscape Area, which is why we need a stronger more robust policy. And if you note in the LDP consultation, the new framework that we are proposing – the landscape character assessments – are mentioned within that document and I suggest you go back to look at that before we have a further conversation”.