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Month: January 2018

Petition To Welsh Assembly For Better Regulation Of The Intensive Poultry Farming Industry In Wales

Petition To Welsh Assembly For Better Regulation Of The Intensive Poultry Farming Industry In Wales

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.

Powys LDP Update & Fundraiser Concert for Hendy Appeal

Powys LDP Update & Fundraiser Concert for Hendy Appeal

Happy New Year 2018!

Liven up bleak January with two very important dates for the diary.

1. Powys Local Development Plan – Renewable Energy Hearing Session 19:

Please put next Wednesday 10th January in the diary and come along if you possibly can to what is likely to be the final Hearing Session of the LDP. The Inspector has decided that the Council’s renewable energy policy is not yet fit for purpose and has called this very important Hearing Session to discuss potential changes to draft policy.

This is probably our last opportunity to influence the final LDP and our last opportunity to demonstrate the public concern about the Council’s Renewable Energy policy to the Inspector. Please be there if at all possible – it is critically important that the Inspector understands how important this area of policy is to local residents.

The hearing is on 10th January 2018, next Wednesday, 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 location map)

The Inspector’s Agenda and participants’ Hearing Session statements are found on the LDP Examination website.

Both Powys branches of CPRW are participants in the hearing session, supported by planning barrister Tina Douglass. Njord Wind Developments (the company behind the Bryn Blaen and Hendy Wind Farms), RES (Renewable Energy Systems) and RenewableUK Cymru are also participants. A substantial public presence is essential.

If possible, please let the Programme Officer, Tracey Smith, know if you intend to attend: Email: tracey.smith@powys.gov.uk; Tel: 07919396609

2. Fundraiser concert for Hendy Appeal – 26th January 8pm at Knighton Community Centre Bar – Please see attached poster for full details

This concert is held in support of our fight against the Hendy Wind Farm on Llandegley Rhos near Penybont. This should be a very enjoyable evening and at the same time you will be helping to see off this serious threat to an iconic Radnorshire landscape.

‘It’s unusual to find someone who’s as good a songwriter as an instrumentalist. Vera van Heeringen is that person. A consummate guitarist, highly acclaimed by her contemporaries, she brings the instrument to life in way that is entirely her own. Vera also writes tunes and songs which deliver straight to – and from – the heart. Firmly rooted in Transatlantic traditions, her original contemporary Americana showcases both these skills: firebrand instrumental virtuosity and poignant, emotionally astute songwriting.

An early starter, raised in the bluegrass scene in her native Holland, Vera has long been recognised for her elegant yet gutsy guitar style – a skill which transposes to pretty much anything with strings! A musician with integrity and style in equal measure. In 2015, Vera released her second album, Proper Brew, which features a roll call of top-drawer musicians who share her musical aesthetic, and hold her in high esteem – amongst them Tim O’Brien, Dirk Powell, Rayna Gellert and Kris Drever. Vera’s third album is imminent.

Her live performances are intimate, understated affairs, allowing the music to speak for itself. Stripped back, potent, and full of groove. Outstanding flatpicking, fulsome fiddle playing, heartbreaking lyrics, and assured natural vocal tone and driving tunes are all integral to the show.

Currently Vera tours with a watertight acoustic trio featuring harmony king Dave Luke on guitar, vocals and mandolin and double-bass stalwart Andy Seward.’

We are very much hoping for a substantial turnout at both these events. Please copy this link and forward to anyone who might be interested in the Hearing and/or the Concert.

Thank you.

Margaret