A PREVIOUSLY refused call for the relocation of a Pembrokeshire farm diversification scheme which packages and distributes specialist medical equipment across Europe will be decided by full council after being backed a second time by councillors.

In an application recommended for refusal at the January meeting of Pembrokeshire County council’s planning committee, Mr Van Der Spoel sought permission for the relocation and expansion of an existing farm diversification business into an existing agricultural building at Castle Villa, Hayscastle.

It had previously been recommended for refusal at the December meeting, but members went against the officer recommendation with a ‘minded to’ approval, meaning it returned to the January meeting after a ‘cooling off’ period.

Back in July a similar application by Mr Van Der Spoel, through agent Harries Planning Design Management, was refused by planning officers.

A supporting statement for that application said the Dutch-born applicant, together with his wife and adult daughter ran the farm diversification business packing specialist medical insulated insulin supplies at their 135-acre sheep farm.

It added: “The business run from this site is FRIO ASTRID EURO Ltd, which has a franchise agreement with FRIO UK. This business has been run from Castle Villa since its incorporation in 1998. The business was initially run from the stable building on the farmyard at Castle Villa.

“The business set-up involves receiving stock from FRIO UK in Wolfscastle, packaging orders and distributing the stock to seven Western Europe countries.”

Wolfscastle-based FRIO produces the world’s first patented insulin cooling wallet which keeps insulin and other temperature-sensitive medicines cool and safe.

The scheme for the business, said to have outgrown its current site, was refused by county planners on grounds including a lack of “robust evidence” to prove it couldn’t be sited within a nearby settlement or an allocated employment site, such as Haverfordwest.

The latest application is recommended for refusal on similar grounds.

At the December meeting, members heard from agent Wyn Harries his client’s business, selling into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany, accounted for some 20 per cent of FRIO UK’s trade on its own.

Mr Harries spoke again at the January meeting, saying previous articles in the Western Telegraph had shown a great deal of public support for the scheme, which had no local objections, adding of the previous ‘minded to’ approval: “Comments on the Western Telegraph [story] show the general populace would be like-minded with the councillors.”

Cllr Mark Carter said: “The only comments [locally] are why aren’t they allowed to continue? It’s almost an ideal business, they are there, it’s tidy, they are getting on with it, there’s never a complaint, it is very hard to see the business that is going on there; I’m absolutely fully supportive of this family.”

Officers had, if members were again supportive of the scheme, proposed a Section 106 legal agreement condition for approval, to ensure the FRIO ASTRID storage and distribution use remains in the same ownership and control as the existing farm business.

A call by Cllr John T Davies to again go against the officer recommendation of refusal was made, supported by 11 members, with one voting for refusal.

The application will now go before a future full council meeting for a final decision, expected to be the March meeting.

A CALL to allow a 600-acre Pembrokeshire potato farm to keep a holiday let erected “in innocence” without permission, which is said to be essential for supporting the business, has been approved.

In an application recommended for approval at the January 13 meeting of Pembrokeshire County council’s planning committee, Mr and Mrs I and F Elliot sought permission for the continued use of a mobile unit with a veranda as tourist accommodation at Cresswell Barn Farm, Cresswell Quay.

Cresswell Barn Farm supplies potatoes to Welsh supermarkets and the site has a certified campsite.

The application was before the committee rather than being delegated for an officer decision as it was recommended for approval, subject to the completion of a Section 106 legal agreement essentially keeping it for holiday use only, despite being in conflict with the development plan and was made by a close family member of an officer in the planning service.

An officer report accompanying the application said an enforcement investigation was started way back in 2012 following a claim a caravan was located at the site and was being used for residential purposes.

That was closed in 2023; a 2022 investigation taking place after an allegation a structure on-site was being used for holiday letting.

A 2023 certificate of lawfulness application was made to regularise the breach of planning, saying the unit had been used for residential purposes for more than a decade, but insufficient information was provided to allow it, the report said.

An appeal against this was later made to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) but was withdrawn by the applicant.

It said the enforcement action was ongoing, leading to the formal planning application.

Of the site itself, the report said: “The agent has confirmed that due to many variables, there is no typical year for the enterprise in terms of profitability and that the income generated from tourist related activities at the farm, is critical to the farming enterprise.  The high-quality holiday unit therefore provides an additional income stream for the farming enterprise.”

It added: “The holiday unit is located adjacent to buildings that make up the farm complex, with the accommodation offering guests an immersive rural experience that introduces them to aspects of the rural economy.

“Information submitted in support of this application confirms that the income from the holiday uses at the site is critical to supplementing the potato farming enterprise.”

Speaking at the meeting, Fiona Elliot said the holiday let was a small-scale part of the wider farm complex; the building having been on-site for some 15 years, the applicants more recently “in innocence” using it as a holiday let, which visitors have described as “five-star,” not realising they needed planning permission.

Following a call by Cllr Brian Hall to back the officer recommendation of conditional approval, members unanimously supported that.

UK-WIDE plans would ban new cage systems from 2027 and end all enriched cages by 2032, as charity urges public to respond

A UK-wide public consultation on proposals to phase out cages for laying hens has been launched, with animal welfare charity RSPCA Cymru describing the move as a major step towards a cage-free future in Wales.

The consultation, led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and being run jointly with the Welsh Government, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive, is seeking views on reforms affecting laying hens, pullets (young hens reared for egg production) and breeder layers.

Under the proposals, the building or first-time use of any new enriched “colony” cage systems would be banned from 2027. The consultation also proposes ending the use of all such cage systems by 2032.

In addition, the plans would extend the ban to all birds currently kept in conventional “battery” cages by removing the existing exemption for smaller flocks of 350 birds or fewer.

RSPCA Cymru said the announcement was particularly significant for Wales, which it noted has one of the highest proportions of free-range hen flocks globally, and is urging the public to respond during the eight-week consultation period.

David Bowles, the RSPCA’s head of public affairs, said: “The announcement of this long-awaited consultation is a huge step forward for animal welfare in Wales… We are urging the public to make their voices heard during this eight-week consultation period so we can move closer to a cage-free future for farmed animals across the UK.

“Every year across the UK, millions of farmed animals are kept in cages, unable to express their natural behaviours and experiencing an unimaginable amount of suffering. Seventy-three per cent of the British public oppose the use of cages for hens, and we have always been clear: cages cannot be part of British farming any longer.”

The RSPCA says caged systems remain in widespread use, with around ten million hens still kept in enriched cages across the UK. The charity argues that, despite being marketed as an improvement, enriched cages provide only a limited increase in space compared with the former battery cages, and still prevent birds from fully expressing natural behaviours such as dustbathing and foraging.

The charity said its campaigning on the use of cages dates back to the 1960s, and noted that its RSPCA Assured welfare standards already prohibit cages on certified farms.

RSPCA Cymru also linked the consultation to the Senedd election due to take place in May, saying it is pressing political parties to include stronger animal welfare commitments in their manifestos. The charity’s priorities include a prohibition on enriched cages for laying hens, and restrictions on other confinement systems, including farrowing crates used in pig farming.

Mr Bowles added that between five and six million pigs reared for slaughter are born in farrowing crates each year in the UK, a practice not permitted under RSPCA welfare standards. He said the charity would continue campaigning for wider reforms, and expects further consultation later this year.