Residents vow to fight plan to scrap Carmarthenshire’s Special Landscapes
Carmarthenshire County Council’s radical plan to scrap Carmarthenshire’s 18 Special Landscape Areas has been condemned by residents campaigning against the proposed Towy Valley Pylons.
Carmarthenshire is well known for its beautiful unspoilt landscapes. So much so that Carmarthenshire County Council had formally designated 18 such areas in its local development plan including the Tywi and Cothi Valleys.
These Special Landscape Areas have formed the foundation of Carmarthenshire’s tourist sector. They have also been used by residents to successfully object to plans for industrial wind projects such as the Llanllwni Mountain Windfarm in 2014. However, hidden away in the new Local Development Plan issued last week by Carmarthenshire County Council is a proposal to scrap all 18 Special Landscapes.
Special Landscapes have already forced the “undergrounding” of a brief stretch of the Brechfa cables and forced the relocation of other infrastructure.
At no point have residents been told that the local authority is planning such a wholesale industrialisation of Carmarthenshire and our river valleys. Residents fear this will pave the way for pylons and other industrial development impacting our farming and our tourism sectors.
Landscape campaigner Havard Hughes commented:
“Residents feel betrayed by Carmarthenshire County Council’s actions. Publicly they have backed residents’ concerns over pylons. Meanwhile going behind the backs of residents to pave the way for developers and pylons.
The Plaid administration’s new Local Development Plan is the most radical rewriting of our local planning rules since the creation of the County. Half of Carmarthenshire will fall into the wind industrial zone an area larger in breadth that the whole of Greater London.
The new Local Development Plan double downgrades Carmarthenshire’s landscapes. It strips residents of an important tool to object to major projects and slashes the amount of compensation or mitigating activity due.
A final kick in the teeth comes on “undergrounding” cables. There is no mention at all in the new plan. Developers will be safe to ignore it despite virtue-signalling statements by our elected politicians.
We are calling on Carmarthenshire County Council to save our Special Landscape Areas. Residents can play their part too by making their objections known during the forthcoming Local Development Plan consultation. We have to project our world famous landscapes such as the Towy Valley for the sake of future generations.”
Notes to editors:
You can contact Landscapes Campaigner Havard Hughes on 07989 345 820 or havard@CRAiGSirGar.org
1 Existing Special Landscape Areas are:
- Tywi Valley
- Carmarthenshire Limestone Ridge
- Teifi Valley
- Drefach Velindre
- Bran Valley (North of Llandovery)
- Mynydd Mallaen
- Llanllwni Mountain
- North Eastern Uplands
- Mynydd y Betws
- Gwendraeth Levels
- Pembrey Mountain
- Swiss Valley
- Talley
- Lwchwr Valley
- Lower Taf Valley
- Cwm Cathan
- Cothi Valley
- Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries
A map of the Special Landscape Areas is available here on page 6 https://democracy.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/documents/s2152/Appendix%201
2 Here is the new map (you may have to zoom in before the detail appears and click on “layers” to see the key) https://carmarthenshire.opus4.co.uk/planning/localplan/maps/2nd-deposit-revised-carmarthenshire-local-development-plan-2018-2033-proposals-map#/center/51.8234,-4.1761/zoom/13/baselayer/b:31/layers/o:9423,o:9424,o:9435,o:9436,o:9437,o:9446,o:9447,o:9448,o:9449,o:9524,o:9525,o:9526,o:9527,o:9528,o:9529,o:9530,o:9531,o:9532,o:9533,o:9560,o:9561,o:9562,o:9563,o:9564,o:9579,o:9580
The Special Landscape Areas have been deleted and are not included in the key.
3 Carmarthenshire’s extensive renewable industrial zones can be found here on p126: https://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/media/1231039/carmarthenshire-rea-v2-combined.pdf
4 The full Local Development Plan just issued by Carmarthenshire’s Planning Department can be viewed here: https://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/home/council-services/planning/local-development-plan-2018-2033/second-deposit-revised-local-development-plan/#.Y_Ol8SWnyEc
5 By way of background, the current local development plan: 2006 to 2021 can be found here: https://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/home/council-services/planning/planning-policy/local-development-plan-2006-2021/
6 For completeness, policy EQ6 setting out the special landscape areas can be found here in the policies section: http://www.cartogold.co.uk/CarmarthenshireLDP/english/text/06_Specific-Policies.html#Ch6_6