A PEMBROKESHIRE smallholding plan involving guinea pigs, rabbits and pigeons being reared for food has been criticised by animal welfare campaigners.

The scheme, at Walnut Grove near Jeffreyston, was approved by Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee last month (Jun 30) as part of a One Planet Development.

The proposal is not for a commercial guinea pig meat farm. The animals would be reared for the applicants’ own household consumption as part of a self-sufficient, low-impact lifestyle.

There is also a cultural divide. In parts of South America, especially Peru, guinea pigs are known as cuy and have been eaten for centuries. They are still served as a traditional dish, particularly in the Andean region around Cusco.

Travel and food accounts from Peru often describe cuy as being served whole, sometimes in a traditional presentation, before being cut up and eaten by hand because of the small bones. The meat is commonly compared to a cross between chicken and rabbit.

That context may explain why the proposal has provoked such a strong reaction in Britain. What many people here see as a family pet is regarded elsewhere as a normal source of food.

Animal Aid has said the idea raises serious questions about animal welfare and what should be considered sustainable living.

In a letter to The Herald, Elizabeth Davenport, Senior Campaign Manager at Animal Aid, said: “I’m sure your readers have already heard about the off-grid couple in Pembrokeshire planning to breed, kill, and eat guinea pigs, rabbits, and pigeons as part of a so-called sustainable living project.

“Aside from the obvious concerns, who will ensure that welfare laws are followed? It’s clear that if this is what sustainability looks like, we have truly lost our way.”

Guinea pigs are widely kept as pets in the UK, which has made this part of the proposal especially controversial.

Animal Aid says the issue is not simply whether guinea pigs are eaten elsewhere, but whether breeding and killing animals should be promoted as part of a sustainable future.

Ms Davenport said: “These One Planet Developments are built on the simple truth that we only have one Earth and must live within its limits. But recognising this should mean respecting our fellow animals, not expanding the menu of those we exploit.

“Too often, individuals get lost amongst the sustainability argument. Guinea pigs, like cows, experience bursts of excitement and hop and skip in the air; pigeons, just like chickens, are devoted parents. We lose so much when we reduce them to the latest sustainability fads and trends.”

The One Planet Development policy is intended to support low-impact rural living, where people meet a significant proportion of their basic needs from the land.

In this case, the applicants’ plans include food production from the land, including fruit, vegetables and other produce, alongside small-scale livestock for personal use.

Animal Aid argues that a genuinely sustainable future should involve reducing reliance on animal farming rather than adding new species to the menu.

Ms Davenport added: “If we are serious about protecting the planet, the evidence is clear: reducing our dependence on all animal farming and embracing a plant-based food system offers far greater sustainability benefits.

“I urge local residents to contact Pembrokeshire County Council. Decisions made in the name of our shared future should be for everyone, including animals.”

Pembrokeshire County Council approved the application subject to conditions.

Authority raises £12m from premium but does not record how many undeclared homes checks have found

PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL raised more than £12m from second-home council tax premiums last year, but says it does not record how many additional properties have been uncovered through compliance or enforcement work.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that 4,662 properties were registered as second homes in Pembrokeshire as of June 1, 2026.

Of those, 3,798 were liable for the second-home premium.

The council confirmed that the debit raised from second-home premiums in 2025/26, including police and town and community council precepts, was £12.035m.

But when asked whether any additional second homes or holiday lets had been identified following compliance or enforcement activity in the last 12 months, and what extra revenue had been recovered, the authority replied: “Information not recorded.”

The answer is likely to raise questions over how effectively the council is measuring the success of its checks at a time when second homes remain one of the most contentious issues in Pembrokeshire.

The county has some of the most desirable coastal communities in Wales, but many local people say they are increasingly priced out of the places where they grew up.

Second-home premiums were introduced to help address the impact of empty and periodically occupied properties, while also raising funds for local services.

However, the Herald asked the council whether it was confident it was identifying all properties liable for the premium, and what checks were being used to spot potentially undeclared second homes or holiday lets.

In response, Pembrokeshire County Council said: “All reasonable steps are taken to ensure second homes are accurately identified.

“If accounts are identified as evading or having evaded the premium through data analysis, records are corrected. This is applied not only going forward but also retrospectively.”

The council added that where circumstances are unclear, its “default position” is to apply the second-home premium.

It said: “The customer then has the opportunity to provide evidence to the contrary if they feel this decision is incorrect. Ultimately an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal can be made.”

Asked whether it cross-references information from short-term holiday letting platforms, planning records, electoral roll data, business rates or other sources, the council said: “All available avenues are used to confirm the accuracy of data held.”

But the authority did not provide a breakdown of what those checks involve, and did not hold figures showing how many properties had been identified through compliance activity.

The council also confirmed that the number of second homes in Pembrokeshire has increased since the second-home premium was introduced.

Questions about whether current legislation gives councils sufficient powers to identify and enforce second-home premium liability were refused on the grounds that they did not amount to a valid FOI request for recorded information.

The council also declined to give a broader view on the impact the premium is having on housing availability, local communities and council finances, saying this would require it to create new information or give an opinion or judgement not already recorded.

The figures show the scale of the issue facing Pembrokeshire.

Nearly 4,700 properties are now registered as second homes in the county, and the premium has become a major source of council tax income.

But the council’s admission that enforcement outcomes are not recorded leaves a key question unanswered: how many second homes are still slipping through the net?

For residents struggling to buy or rent in their own communities, and for those paying the premium on declared second homes, that question is unlikely to go away.

A SCHEME to improve a Pembrokeshire seaside village home and surf shop, while also removing an unlawful part that was subject to an enforcement notice, has been given the go-ahead.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Bruce Sanderson of New Surf, through agent A D Architectural Design Consultants LTD sought permission for internal and external alterations to dwelling and surf shop, at New Surf, Newgale, including the removal of an un-lawful use of part of the ground floor as a shop.

The proposals were supported by Nolton and Roch Community Council.

An officer report recommending approval said: “The proposal returns the dwelling building to full residential use only. The application site is in a particularly sensitive location and appropriate mitigation has been sought and conditions imposed to preserve protected sites and species.”

It added: “The property known as Newsurf is a two-bedroom dormer bungalow with adjoining surf shop opposite the shingle bank of Newgale beach. The surf shop is positioned southeast of the bungalow and comprises a pair of pitched roof store buildings with linking flat roof section to the dwelling. Prior to being a surf shop, the application site was a filling station.

“The southern ground floor area of the dormer bungalow has been in retail use without planning authorisation and the remaining ground floor as residential use. Plans show two bedrooms and a storage area on the first floor of the dwelling.”

It detailed the proposals addressed the unauthorised aspects of development relating to a 2022 national park enforcement notice.

It concluded: “The proposed scheme is considered acceptable in how it responds to landscape setting, visual, aesthetic, historical, cultural and ecological aspects and also the physical characteristics of the site.

“The proposal preserves and enhances the character of the dwelling and by doing so will not create an unacceptably detrimental impact on the special qualities of the National Park. It is not considered that the development will cause an unacceptable impact upon privacy or amenity of neighbouring properties.”

The application was conditionally approved.

The Newsurf site also features in plans by a Vodafone phone company subsidiary to bring fibreoptic cables across the sea from Ireland to Pembrokeshire; the onshore part of a project to bring a fibreoptic cable onshore from Kilmore Quay, Wexford, Ireland to a site at Newsurf shop car park, Sands Café Car Park and the Duke of Edinburgh Inn, Newgale.

No decision has yet been made on that application.