A PREVIOUSLY backed call against officer recommendations for the relocation of a Pembrokeshire farm diversification scheme which packages and distributes specialist medical equipment across Europe will again be considered by councillors.

At the December meeting of Pembrokeshire County council’s planning committee, members backed a call by Mr Van Der Spoel for the relocation and expansion of an existing farm diversification business into an existing agricultural building at Castle Villa, Hayscastle despite an officer recommendation for refusal.

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 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 previously 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.

Since then, an application seeking to address the reasons for refusal was submitted, and, at the request of local member Cllr Mark Carter, a call for the scheme to be decided by full planning committee rather than delegated to officers was backed at the October meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning delegation panel.

The latest application is again, after its ‘minded to’ backing at the December meeting, recommended for refusal on similar grounds to previously at the January 13 planning meeting.

It has returned to the January committee for ratification after a ‘cooling off’ period, and, if backed then, will ultimately be decided by full council.

A report for members following the ‘minded to’ approval, warns: “Members should be aware that if they are ‘minded to’ approve the application on the basis of economic benefits and farm diversification, this is a consideration which can be applied to many other existing sites. This would have further consequences for the implementation of policies within the LDP and its delivery.”

It adds that, if it is backed again, it includes a condition, suggested by the agent, that: “Should the farm and business ever be operating by different individuals/companies, the use of this building by FRIO ASTRID must cease and be relocated should further planning permission not be obtained.

“This will be regulated by the submission of documents annually to demonstrate the farm and business remain under ownership by the same individual/company.”

THE WELSH Liberal Democrats have called on the UK Government to extend the Rural Fuel Duty Relief scheme to rural parts of Wales, arguing that Welsh communities were excluded when the scheme was originally designed under a Conservative administration.

Speaking during a parliamentary debate this week, David Chadwick, the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ Westminster spokesperson, said the current structure of the scheme benefits rural areas in England and Scotland but leaves every part of rural Wales outside its scope.

Rural Fuel Duty Relief is designed to reduce fuel costs in sparsely populated areas, where motorists are estimated to spend around £800 more per year on fuel than those living in urban communities. Under the scheme, fuel retailers can claim a 5p-per-litre rebate on petrol and diesel, which is passed on to customers through lower prices at the pump.

Although Wales is among the most rural nations in the UK, no Welsh areas were included when the scheme was introduced more than a decade ago. As a result, drivers in rural Welsh communities continue to pay higher fuel prices than their counterparts in qualifying areas of England and Scotland.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats say this exclusion should now be addressed, and have proposed a consultation to determine which areas in Wales would qualify for relief. Counties including Powys, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Gwynedd have been identified by the party as likely beneficiaries.

The party has also renewed calls for the introduction of a Pumpwatch scheme, which would allow motorists to easily compare fuel prices and guard against unfair pricing. A similar scheme operates in Northern Ireland, where fuel prices are often among the lowest in the UK. The Liberal Democrats say the previous Government committed to introducing Pumpwatch but did not implement it before the end of the last Parliament.

However, the UK Government has previously argued that fuel duty policy must balance support for rural motorists with wider fiscal pressures, and has pointed to the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and freeze on duty rates as measures intended to help drivers nationwide. Ministers have also highlighted devolved responsibilities in Wales, noting that transport policy and broader rural support are shared between Westminster and the Welsh Government.

Commenting, Mr Chadwick said:
“People in rural Wales are being clobbered by sky-high fuel costs, yet they were deliberately excluded from a scheme designed to help rural drivers elsewhere in the UK. That is fundamentally unfair.

“In Parliament this week, I challenged the Government on why rural communities in Wales are locked out of Rural Fuel Duty Relief while parts of England and Scotland benefit, purely because of the way the scheme was set up.

“Rural drivers should not be punished for where they live, and I will keep pressing for a fair deal for communities across rural Wales.”

The Herald has contacted the UK Government for comment on whether it plans to review the scope of the Rural Fuel Duty Relief scheme to include areas of Wales.

Aled Jones reflected on a turbulent year in farming in his New Year message

NFU CYMRU President Aled Jones has reflected on a turbulent year for Welsh agriculture while warning that the months ahead will be “seismic” for both farming and politics in Wales, as the country prepares to go to the polls in May.

In his Christmas and New Year message, Mr Jones said farming families across Wales had endured more than a year of upheaval following proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and inheritance tax.

“Over the past fourteen months, farming families have been thrown into turmoil by proposals that threatened the future of the family farm,” he said. “NFU Cymru has been tireless in challenging these changes, with sustained and high-profile campaigning that culminated in the ‘NO IHT’ mosaic display at the Winter Fair on the eve of this year’s Budget.”

Mr Jones also recalled delivering the Stop the Family Farm Tax petition to Downing Street earlier this year, backed by more than a quarter of a million signatures.

While welcoming the limited concessions announced by the Chancellor in November — including the introduction of spousal transfer of the inheritance tax allowance — he warned the measures fell far short of what was needed.

“This will help only a small number of farmers and does nothing to protect the elderly or the terminally ill from the devastating consequences of these proposals,” he said. “It is for the most vulnerable in our communities that we must continue to fight.”

He urged the UK Government to remove the anti-forestalling clause from the Finance Bill as it progresses through Parliament, describing it as particularly harmful to farmers facing serious illness or uncertainty.

Turning to Welsh Government policy, Mr Jones noted that detailed guidance for the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) — eight years in the making — had now been published, with the scheme set to come into force from January 1, 2026.

He said important improvements had been secured since the scheme’s earliest proposals, following sustained engagement by NFU Cymru.

“Over the past eighteen months, our work through the Roundtable and sub-groups has delivered real change, including the removal of the ten per cent tree cover requirement and a reduction in universal actions from seventeen to twelve,” he said.

Mr Jones also welcomed confirmation that the overall farming budget would be maintained at £340 million, and said the inclusion of a social value payment recognised the wider contribution Welsh farming makes to society.

“While NFU Cymru supports the overall framework of the SFS, there is still much work to do,” he added. “This government — and the next — must commit to evolving the scheme so it supports a productive, progressive and profitable farming sector.”

Looking ahead to the Senedd election, Mr Jones described 2026 as a “seismic year” for Welsh politics, with the Senedd expanding to ninety-six members and new constituencies introduced under a revised voting system.

He pointed to NFU Cymru’s manifesto, Welsh Farming: Growing Forward, which calls for a farm-to-fork food strategy, a ring-fenced multi-year farming budget, a comprehensive bovine TB eradication plan and an independent review of regulation.

Reflecting on the year just passed, Mr Jones acknowledged the strain caused by inheritance tax uncertainty, the rollout of the SFS, ongoing animal disease threats and extreme weather.

He was also critical of the recent four-year review of the Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations, saying it failed to reflect the “sheer desperation” felt by farmers dealing with complex and impractical rules.

Despite these challenges, he said he remained optimistic.

“Every day I am inspired by the ambition and ‘can do’ attitude of farming families across Wales, and their determination to feed the nation while leaving their farms in a better state for the next generation.”

Mr Jones concluded by calling on politicians of all parties to work with the sector.

“As Wales enters a period of political change, we need policies and regulation that allow farming families to continue producing world-leading, healthy food while delivering for our environment, climate, economy, culture and language.”

“Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.”