Hope in Wales as Welsh Minister ‘calls in’ mega-dairy
Jan 25, 2012
The fight against the proposed mega-dairy in Wales has taken a dramatic turn as the Welsh Environment Minister has ‘called in’ the planning application.
WSPA is delighted that the Welsh government is taking the threat of mega-dairies seriously; recognising the worrying precedent approving the application would set.
John Griffiths AM, the Welsh Assembly Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, has acted in response to a series of requests for the Welsh Assembly to overturn the council’s decision by calling in the planning application.
Last year, WSPA’s Not in my Cuppa campaigners wrote to the Welsh Assembly to ask for the application to be called in after plans for a 1,000 cow indoor dairy were conditionally approved last November, despite a recommendation from their own planning officials to reject the proposal.
Minister’s concerns
In a letter to the Powys local planning authority the Welsh Environment Department set out the Minister’s concerns.
‘There is insufficient information … to show that all the relevant policy considerations have been fully addressed by Powys County Council’s planning committee.’
The Minister concluded that ‘the planning application appears to conflict with national planning policies relating to pollution control and conserving the historic environment, and that it raises issues of more than local importance.’
You can read the full letter here Minister's Decision
Support for the campaign
Joining us in asking for the call in were our allies at Compassion in World Farming, Soil Association and the Campaign for Real Farming as well as Campaign Against Leighton Farm Expansion (CALFe), Countryside Council for Wales, the historic monuments agency Cadw, Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW), the National Trust and Powys Teaching Health Board.
Joyce Watson, Assembly Member for Mid & West Wales also wrote to the Welsh Minister with responsibility for planning, asking him to investigate Powys Council’s decision to give controversial plans for a ‘mega-dairy’ near Welshpool the go-ahead. At a recent event in Cardiff the AM for the Powys area signed our cow petition and met with Not in my Cuppa campaigners.
Holly Dyer, local resident and campaigner for local group CALFe said: “The final decision is still a long way off but this is great news and a step in the right direction.
“Thanks to everyone who has helped get CALFe to this milestone. Hopefully the decision to call in the planning application will create more media interest about what is going on here in Leighton.”
Stay tuned
You can follow the progress now at www.wales.gov.uk or join us on Facebook as we step up the pressure.
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