1. Powys LDP Hearings: New information and a few reminders about the LDP Hearings:

RENEWABLE ENERGY HEARINGS: Please note that the renewable energy hearing sessions, originally to have been the 9th and 10th May, have now been postponed to 27th and 28th June. Powys will now publish revised evidence and their proposed revised Renewable Energy (RE) policy on the 12th May. Hearing statements must be submitted to the Inspector by 5th June. Anyone who objected to the Further Focussed Changes is entitled to submit a statement for the hearings and we would urge you to do so. This is our opportunity to object to and point out the soundness issues in Powys’ revised evidence and policy proposals. Written statements are limited to 3,000 words, but can be accompanied by visual evidence. Statements and accompanying evidence must be provided in both electronic and paper format. Details are set out in the Inspector’s Guidance Notes.

CPRW Brecon & Radnor have recently uploaded new information to our website, including maps, which we hope may be helpful to objectors.

Instead of revising the Renewable Energy Assessment (REA) and RE Policy in response to the overwhelming criticism from the public and then submitting this to the statutory 6 week public consultation,  PCC decided to submit a major revision of their REA during the Hearings Program. This means that we, and all other participants in Hearing Session 15 on Renewable Energy, will only have 3 weeks to prepare our evidence statements for the Hearing Session instead of the 6 weeks consultation period.

Even if you did not object to Further Focussed Changes, you could still argue that you have a democratic right to submit a statement and participate in Hearing Session 15 because this will be yet another major change in the LDP. This democratic right is supported by the Welsh Government’s flagship legislation, the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and the Environment (Wales) Act 2016.

Powys’s major revisions during the LDP Examination also mean that all issues of soundness other than those arising directly from RE policy are considered before we even see the RE policy itself so that there can be no proper consideration of the consistency between policies.

HEARING SESSIONS STARTING 28TH MARCH: Please do let Tracey Smith, LDP programme officer, know you if will be attending so she can ensure there is adequate space for all. Email: tracey.smith@powys.gov.uk.

TIMETABLE ETC.: The timetable, agendas for individual hearings and hearing statements from participants can be found here. CPRW national and/or Powys branches have so far submitted statements for hearings 1, 2, 5, 6 & 7.

2. “What Do You Think Is The Most Important Issue Facing Wales In The Future?” The Office of the Future Generations Commissioner, Sophie Howe, has launched an online survey asking this question. The survey is likely to close on 7th April and you should respond before this date. The Commissioner has already shown a refreshingly robust and independent attitude in her opposition to the Government’s proposals for the M4 relief road. This is our opportunity to put our views to the Commissioner, and alert her, for example, to the general neglect of rural views and issues in Welsh Government.  The Commissioner’s office has also launched a new website and a broad conversation/consultation on their Draft Strategic Plan and policy priorities.

3. Further Focussed Changes Representations: Powys had decided to drastically cull our responses to the FFCs and simply list the missing parts as “supporting evidence” without showing the text.  After a long period of prevarication, the full versions of the Powys Branches’ responses and another objector’s response, which had been similarly culled, have finally been published under the headings ED034 and ED035 on the Examination website.

4. Brecon & Radnor Action Group: Please do contact Jenny Keal (jenny@davidbellamy.co.uk) about this action group. The group now has a new facebook page in the name ‘BRAG Brecon and Radnor Action Group’.

CPRW Brecon & Radnor Committee