Powys Green Guide

Response received from Jeremy Davies, Gwlad candidate for Gwynedd Maldwyn.

1. Wind farms

Last year, the UK paid £1.5 billion to curtail wind generation, and that figure could rise to as much as £8 billion by 2030. While wind power has an important role to play in Wales, I believe we must stop the industrialisation of our countryside by large corporate operators who are exploiting current subsidies and damaging our landscapes and biodiversity with giant turbines and their huge concrete bases.

A new subsea network could be laid from Connah’s Quay to Wylfa and then down to Pembroke to strengthen our national grid infrastructure. Floating wind farms should be located offshore, where they have less impact on the environment and where the energy produced can be used for the benefit of Wales. The associated marine engineering and maintenance work would provide a welcome boost to the Welsh economy.

Gwlad does not oppose small community wind projects, or turbines needed on farms, but these must receive proper planning permission to ensure they are fair to local communities and sensitive to landscape, biodiversity, and heritage.

Wherever there are large industrial wind farms, transmission pylons will also be required. Unfortunately, the cost of undergrounding them will rarely be justified, given the expense and geological difficulties involved. Decisions about the National Grid are controlled in Westminster, and the Senedd has no direct say. If people do not want pylons, then they must say ‘NO’ to large-scale onshore wind farms.

As for where electricity for the whole UK should come from, the answer should be a balanced mix of offshore wind, tidal power, solar on roof tops and new nuclear SMRs, which are recognised by many green parties in Europe as a sustainable way forward.

2. Localising energy

Yes, communities should absolutely have a stake in local energy generation and infrastructure. They should not simply be asked for their consent after decisions have effectively been made but partners from the start.

If a community decides to host a local energy project, then that community should benefit directly from them, not just absorb the impacts.

That should mean clearer community ownership models, shared revenue, reduced local energy costs, and a requirement that a significant share of contracts, maintenance, and jobs are kept local where possible. I would also like to see planning and licensing rules that make it easier for town and community councils, cooperatives, and local trusts to invest in or co-own projects.

3. Rural transport

We need public support for rural transport infrastructure, better planning so that people are not forced to travel long distances for basic services, and policies that help rural households reduce fuel costs without losing freedom.

In Powys, the car will remain necessary for many people, but that does not mean we should accept the current lack of alternatives.

Rural transport needs a practical, affordable solution and a good first step would be to make sure bus and train services are properly co-ordinated so that people can actually rely on them.

We need to improve rail connections between north and south Wales, and there are already ideas on our website showing how this could be done by focusing on a route that links the more populated towns in Powys.

Just like the Puffin in Pembrokeshire and the Sherpa routes in Eryri, we want more rural public transport that works for local people as well as visitors, so they can leave the car behind and explore more easily.

Our tourist tax of £2 per adult over 18, per night, would be ring-fenced for transport improvements. Visitors staying three nights or more would also receive a free local transport voucher.

4. Support for local green businesses

If we want young people to stay in Wales, we need real career opportunities, not just seasonal or low-paid work. There are opportunities but we should not be misled by the large corporations. For every £1 spent in a local coffee shop 80p stays locally. For every £1 spent in a chain store 80p leaves the area.

We would support stronger procurement rules so that public bodies buy more from local firms and farms where possible, particularly for food, maintenance, construction, care, and sustainability projects. We would also like to see targeted support for small and medium-sized businesses that create decent local jobs, especially for young people. That includes business advice, starter grants, premises support, and easier access to finance.

Online shopping is not going away, but local businesses can still compete if the playing field is fair. We should encourage local branding, local food networks and stronger “buy local” campaigns. ‘Keep the money circulating in Wales’.

5. Land use

Our view is that the first principle must be that agricultural land should prioritised for food production. Alongside that, poor land, marginal land, and land with low productivity may be considered for biodiversity recovery, habitat creation and tree planting where appropriate. Land use should be based on suitability, not on blanket targets.

We would like to see more support for farmers with improved consultation to create a proper framework for Wales to replace the existing SFS scheme. That framework should protect farming as a productive economic activity while also recognising that nature recovery is essential.

We also wish to add a short note on a practical farming issue that illustrates the tension between environmental regulations and disease control – one that affects many Powys farmers.

Farmers Caught Between TB regulations and Slurry Rules

Here’s the double bind in simple terms:

1. Bovine TB makes slurry dangerous as the bacteria can survive in cow dung and slurry for up to six months. Official advice: store it that long before spreading, to kill the bugs and protect herds/wildlife.
2. Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) rules force a tight calendar. NVZs ban spreading mid-October to mid-January, therefore farms must empty stores in just 4-6 weeks beforehand – or face £2,000 fines.

The clash? Chaos.

• Store 6 months for TB safety? Tanks overflow in wet weather.
• Spread for NVZ compliance? Risk spreading live TB.
• One rainy week = emergency spreading of risky slurry, disease outbreaks, nitrate runoff, and stress.

Farmers call it "farming by calendar" – rigid dates creating more problems.

Gwlad recommends more flexible rules. Let farmers spread when weather AND disease risk allow, not Brussels-style dates. This protects rivers, herds, and farmers – practical environmentalism, not ideology.

I hope this example shows Gwlad's commitment to real-world solutions for Powys farmers facing climate, nature, and economic pressures.

6. Water quality

There is a great deal of concern about the condition of our rivers, bathing waters and the effect pollution is having on our ecosystems.

We receive more rainfall in Wales than many parts of the UK and therefore the strongest argument is public safety:

Spill counts alone do not tell people whether the water is dangerous, because pathogens are what create the immediate health risk. So the policy goal should be not just “how much spilled,” but “what contamination is present, how quickly it can be measured, and how the public is warned.” That makes it easier to justify investment in infrastructure, testing facilities and a legal duty to disclose danger levels.

We need better monitoring, greater transparency, and more reporting so that people can see what is happening in their local rivers.

Welsh Water must sample storm overflow discharges at designated high-risk sites after every spill, or within a fixed period after spill events and must commission testing laboratories or accredited testing capacity for pathogens and relevant indicator organisms to be identified quickly.

Natural Resources Wales must publish risk categories or public advisories where results exceed defined thresholds and priority must be given to bathing waters, estuaries, rivers with high recreation use, and locations near vulnerable users.

To maintain improvement, we need a joined-up approach: better sewage infrastructure and, as mentioned previously on land use, an improved system to manage slurry and nutrient runoff. This is not just about nature, but about swimming, fishing, tourism, and the quality of life of communities across Wales.

Short response received from Aled Davies.

Thank you for your email. As a County Councillor for Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant and Llansilin, I am very aware of the challenges we face.

I would be happy to discuss these issues further at a later time. For now, I would refer you to the Welsh Conservatives’ manifesto, which is available online.

Diolch

Response received from Ian Parry, Welsh Labour candidate for Gwynedd Maldwyn.

1. Wind farms

It goes without saying that we need to move quickly to both decarbonise our electricity grid and expand electrification. The climate and nature crisis is the greatest threat we face, and onshore wind is an absolutely vital solution. But we cannot allow a ‘cowboy capitalism’ approach where multinational corporations like Bute Energy extract profits from our natural resources while our communities bear the visual and environmental cost.

The Gwynedd Maldwyn Labour Party wants a different model: community-led and community-owned energy projects, where the benefits are retained locally. For the UK as a whole, our electricity should come from a mix of that community-scale and nationally significant renewable generation, alongside the new nuclear baseload we’re delivering at Wylfa and potentially Trawsfynydd, which I support.

If more infrastructure must be built here, recompense cannot be a token community fund that amounts to a bribe. It must be a transformative economic stake. Communities that host pylons and turbines should receive a substantial and permanent share of the project’s revenue, directly off-setting energy bills for every household and business.

However, the scale of the windfarms proposed in Mid Wales needs a serious re-examination. The research work published within the last year casts a shadow on the economic assumptions of the corporations and the associated output from the wind farms.

The best solution is to create green power near the point of use. We need to think differently.

We must ensure that new grid connections are undergrounded by default in sensitive landscapes unless technically impossible, with strict enforcement of the highest environmental standards in construction, and with no sacrificing of ecologically rich sites. There should be no loss of peat bogs to turbines.

While onshore wind is the cheapest form of generation, we have to acknowledge that there is a premium to be paid for under-grounding electrical connections. If we are to pay that premium, the cost shouldn't fall on the host community or those in fuel poverty. The cost of a truly just transition should be socialised and weighted to fall on the broadest shoulders and to protect the least well-off.

2. Localising energy

Community involvement is fundamental to our vision. We must build an economy fit for the 21st century that prioritises people over shareholder value. Communities shouldn’t just be consulted on a multinational’s plans; they should be co-developers, owners, and primary beneficiaries.

In the Senedd, I would champion policies that make community energy the default. This means establishing a dedicated, easy-to-access public development fund to provide risk capital for community groups to develop their own wind, solar, and hydro projects, so they aren't outgunned by corporate developers at the planning stage.

We need a ‘Right to Local Supply’ that allows community energy generators to sell electricity directly to local homes and businesses without prohibitive market barriers. Ynni Cymru and Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru, our publicly owned renewable energy developers, should be mandated to prioritise partnership and capacity building with local community energy groups. This is about democratic ownership of our energy future.

3. Rural transport

The difficulty of getting around a massive rural constituency like ours is a reality I understand deeply. Especially after months of campaigning for the election! The answer isn't telling people they can't use their cars. It's about giving everyone, regardless of income, a viable, affordable, sustainable solution which meets their individual needs.

My solution would be a complete re-imagination of rural public transport as a public service, not a profit centre. We need a fully integrated, demand-responsive transport network for counties like Powys.

I’m proud that one of the last acts of the outgoing Welsh Labour Government was to bring bus services under public control via franchising. This gives rural areas the potential for a network of frequent, TrawsCymru-style arterial routes connecting major towns, fed by a fleet of smaller, electric “fflecsi” demand-responsive vehicles serving our villages and hamlets, all bookable through one simple app and fare-capped with a single low-price ticket.

This system would need to be synchronised with our publicly-owned Transport for Wales rail services. I want to be a strong voice for our rural constituency in the Senedd, making sure that the unique demands and challenges of providing public transport here are fully met.

4. Support for local green businesses

The fight against the climate crisis is a moral duty, but it’s also sound economic policy. We must build a resilient, local foundation for our economy so that it’s circular — the wealth generated here, stays here. The shift to online markets is a challenge of our time, but not an unstoppable force.

I support a ‘Pro-Growth, Pro-Local’ package. First, use public procurement aggressively: our hospitals, schools, and councils must be mandated to source a significantly higher percentage of food and services from local, sustainable producers, creating a guaranteed market.

Second, in the Senedd, I would push for business rate relief to be targeted not just at the high street, but specifically at sustainable, locally-rooted businesses. Third, I want to supercharge our local development agency with a specific mission to provide ring-fenced grants, apprenticeships, and incubation space for young entrepreneurs in sustainable agriculture, woodland management, and renewable technology.

There are so many brilliant local projects that we should showcase and build upon to replicate them across Wales.

5. Land use

Land is our most precious asset and is currently caught in a tug-of-war. The answer is a single, over-arching land use framework for Wales, informed by the Future Generations Act. We cannot have siloed departments fighting for food vs. forestry vs. biodiversity.

I will push for policies that mandate a multiple-benefits approach. This means public money for farmers and land managers must be tied to delivering on all these public services simultaneously — high-quality food production, creating wildlife corridors, planting native broadleaf woodlands for carbon sequestration and timber, improving water quality, and providing space for sensitive tourism.

We need to fund expert, independent advisory services to help farmers design their holdings to stack these benefits. Large-scale energy developments on best-and-most-versatile agricultural land should be resisted; instead, we should direct community energy to lower-grade land and rooftops.

We also need to work collectively to manage water on our land, to ensure that we do not swing from drought to flood and that we put in place the protections we need.

I welcome the work that Welsh Government has done with farming unions, to ensure the transition to sustainable farming is a just one. I would insist this type of co-working continue, to make sure that farmers co-develop plans for the future of Welsh land.

6. Water quality

The state of our rivers is a scandal and an ecological emergency that matches the climate crisis in severity. There can be no more reports and no more delays — we must act now.

The first step is a moratorium on any agricultural or development intensification in vulnerable catchments until they meet good ecological status. The enforcement of existing regulations has been utterly feeble. We must also ensure that planning enforces proper sewage management when new housing developments are built — not just overloading the current systems further.

I very much welcome the outgoing Welsh Labour Government’s plans for a new economic water regulator. I want to see those plans go further; building a powerful water protection agency with real teeth, merging the fragmented regulatory roles and properly funding them.

For agriculture, the current system is failing. We must rapidly reinvest in and expand the catchment-sensitive farming advisory service, using the new Sustainable Farming Scheme payments not as a loose incentive, but as a firm contract: public money for clean water.

Privatisation has cost taxpayers dear and has not provided a sustainable model for running the industry. Water companies need to be nationalised but not by buying the assets, by ensuring all the liabilities are placed on the balance sheets which would render many of the companies unviable.

Since privatisation in 1989 up to the early-to-mid-2020s around £78–£88 billion has been paid in dividends by English and Welsh water companies. There are additional payments above and beyond this to parent companies and in intra-group fees. Within the same time period, capital investment in the businesses has been around £190–£236 billion.

But this is only part of the picture as Welsh Water / Dŵr Cymru, a not-for-profit, has also been a polluter. Hence the need for tougher regulation.

Our problems do not just stem from the interests of the private boards of water companies or a lack of investment; they also stem from a lack of maintenance, a lack of infrastructure where additional houses have been added to already stretched capability, and from the changes brought about by climate change.

We must be able to deal with drought and deluges to a degree we have not experienced before. I support having a clear water management plan, discussed and approved locally, which can be challenged by local constituents who have more local knowledge than any central organisation.

We also need a truly responsive service when a problem occurs and an emergency response team who can address problems like the current sewage discharge into the river at Llanfyllin.

If elected, your local representatives from Welsh Labour would seek to facilitate this local debate and to bring communities and water organisations together to have a local plan which is enacted, monitored and changed as required.