PLANS for a micro energy storage facility ‘battery box’ scheme in a Pembrokeshire town have been given the go-ahead, despite local objections including the town council.

In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, AMP Clean Energy sought permission for a micro energy storage project on land between Steynton Road and Sheffield Drive, Milford Haven.

A supporting statement accompanying the application said the battery boxes import electricity from the local electricity network when demand for electricity is low or when there are high levels of renewable energy available, exporting it back during periods of high demand to help address grid reliability issues prompted by an increase of intermittent (wind and solar) generation.

AMP Clean Energy says it is developing up to 1,250-plus Battery Boxes in the UK over the next three years.

It says each box, which takes up roughly two car parking spaces, stores 800kWh of electricity, giving the potential to power 200 homes for four hours where there is a supply disruption.

The battery box schemes are part of a raft of applications in the county; AMP has gained approval for similar schemes on land between King Street and Meyrick Street, Pembroke Dock and land in between Castle Quarry and Haven Court, Pembroke, on a verge at the Bridge Innovation Centre, Pembroke Dock, and land to the south of Withybush Road, Withybush Industrial Estate, Haverfordwest.

However, a scheme for a micro energy storage project on land at Fishguard Leisure Centre Car Park, near Ysgol Bro Gwaun was refused by the council’s planning committee late last year after concerns were raised including being in “an unsafe, unsustainable and unnecessary location,” and the “nightmare scenario” of a fire as children were leaving the school, which was disputed by AMP’s agent.

For the latest Milford Haven scheme, 34 objections from members of the public were received, raising concerns including closeness to neighbouring properties, traffic congestion and safety during the construction phase, potential fire safety risks, noise and light pollution, landscape impact and impact on property values, and claims of an active covenant on the land.

Milford Haven Town Council had initially supported the scheme but later withdrew that backing, after the chair of the town council’s planning, policy and community committee Councillor Lee Bridges met with residents “deeply concerned about this application”.

“After hearing these concerns (which have been greatly researched and extensively detailed) Milford Haven Town Council would like to officially withdraw the recommendation made on March 3.”

However, an officer report for county planners recommended approval, saying the council public protection team and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service raised no objections, adding any active covenant on the land was not deemed a material planning consideration.

SEISMIC political changes have happened both in Wales and in Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire in the 2026 Senedd elections, with a Plaid victory, Reform coming second and Labour suffering.

In a battle for six seats in the new Ceredigion Penfro constituency, Plaid Cymru gained three seats, Reform two and Welsh Conservatives one.

For the May 7 elections, Wales had 16 constituencies instead of the previous 40.

Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru created the new constituencies for Wales and the Senedd now has 96 members instead of 60, each constituency electing six members.

For Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion, the new Ceredigion Penfro constituency is made up of the Ceredigion Preseli UK Parliamentary constituency and the Mid and South Pembrokeshire UK Parliamentary constituency, stretching from north of Aberystwyth to Angle in the southwest and Llanteg in the southeast.

The new voting system is based on a ‘closed proportional list system’; you vote for a political party (rather than individuals) or an independent candidate, the ballot paper showing the full list of candidates in your constituency.

If a party wins enough votes, they win one or more seats in the Senedd; if an independent candidate wins enough votes, they win a seat in the Senedd; seats reflecting the percentage of votes each party or independent candidate gets.

There were 44 candidates for the Ceredigion Penfro constituency, with a total of six seats up for grabs, the results announced at Llandysul’s Ysgol Bro Teifi, with one high profile loss former First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her Labour seat.

Out of 89,402 votes cast, Plaid Cymru gained 31,943; Reform 23,003; Welsh Conservatives 14,789; Labour 6,495; Green 6,324; Liberal Democrats 4,613; Gwlad 802; Heritage Party 442; Aaron Carey 368; George Alexander Chadzy 286, and Paul Haywood Dowson 88.

The six candidates elected saw three Plaid seats, two Reform and one Welsh Conservatives: Elin Jones, Kerry Ferguson, and Anna Nicholl Plaid Cymru; Susan Claire Archibald and Paul Marr Reform; Welsh Conservatives Paul Windsor Davies.

Wales-wide, Plaid gained 43 seats, Reform 34, Labour nine, Conservatives seven, Greens two, and Liberal Democrats one.

After the Ceredigion Penfro results were declared Elin Jones spoke at Llandysul, paying tribute to Eluned Morgan and her “energetic campaign,” and also had kind words for Conservative hopeful Sam Kurtz who failed to retain a Senedd seat.

“On a personal level, I just want to say to Sam Kurtz: I will miss you in the Senedd, you’ve been a fine representative.”

Reform’s Susan Claire Archibald, formerly a member of Pembroke Town Council, spoke on behalf of herself, fellow Reform winner Paul Marr, and the party’s supporters, saying the supporters would need “new shoes,” given Ceredigion Penfro’s “ginormous constituency”.

She added: “Paul and I are obviously very excited to get to work to representing our constituency of Ceredigion and Penfro.”

Paul Davies has thanked all who voted for his party, saying he was “deeply grateful for every single vote cast,” but added: “It has been a difficult day for our party, and unfortunately my friend and colleague Samuel Kurtz has not been re-elected.

“West Wales has lost a committed and passionate advocate in Sam. He has been an outstanding representative for the region, and I have no doubt he will return to frontline politics in the future.”

Mr Davies has, since the results came in, announced he is putting his name forward to be the next presiding officer in the Senedd.

Following former First Minister Eluned Morgan’s defeat in Ceredigion Penfro, Ken Skates has been appointed interim leader.

Seventy MPs now calling for Prime Minister to quit or set departure timetable after disastrous election losses

SIR Keir Starmer’s premiership was hanging by a thread on Monday night as a growing rebellion inside Labour threatened to spiral into a full leadership crisis just hours after his major “reset” speech.

The Prime Minister had attempted to relaunch his government with a high-stakes address in London following Labour’s disastrous election results across the UK.

But instead of calming unrest inside the party, pressure on Starmer intensified dramatically throughout the day.

By Monday evening, the BBC reported that 70 Labour MPs had now publicly called for Starmer either to resign immediately or set out a timetable for his departure.

The number rose steadily throughout the afternoon and evening following the speech, with several ministerial aides resigning from government positions and openly declaring they had lost confidence in the Prime Minister.

Leadership crisis deepens

Starmer used the speech to admit Labour had “made mistakes” and acknowledged that the election results had been “tough, very tough”.

He insisted he would not resign and pledged to fight any leadership challenge.

The Prime Minister said: “I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will.”

Asked directly whether he would stand aside, Starmer replied: “I’m not going to walk away.”

The speech had been billed as a make-or-break moment for his premiership, with growing numbers of Labour MPs openly questioning whether he could recover politically after the party’s heavy losses.

Instead, the situation appeared to worsen.

BBC political correspondents described the Prime Minister as being in a “very vulnerable” position, with some MPs now openly discussing whether his premiership is becoming unsustainable.

Government aides quit

The most damaging developments came later in the day as parliamentary private secretaries — junior government aides often seen as future ministers — began resigning.

Tom Rutland became the first government aide to quit, saying he no longer had faith in Starmer’s leadership and calling on the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for departure.

Joe Morris, parliamentary private secretary to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, also resigned, saying Starmer no longer had “the trust or confidence of the public”.

Naushabah Khan later resigned as parliamentary private secretary to the Cabinet Office while calling for “new leadership”.

Melanie Ward also quit her role as parliamentary private secretary to Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Several MPs warned privately that more resignations could follow if Starmer refuses to stand down.

The growing revolt now appears to span multiple factions within Labour, including MPs linked both to the left of the party and to senior figures on the party’s more centrist wing.

Three key pledges

Earlier in the day, Starmer had attempted to reset his leadership by announcing a series of major policy pledges.

The Prime Minister promised a closer relationship with Europe, saying the next EU summit would mark a “new direction for Britain” and place the country “at the heart of Europe” once again on trade, defence and economic cooperation.

He also announced plans for a major youth opportunity scheme allowing young people to work, study and live in Europe more easily.

Starmer pledged further investment in apprenticeships, technical colleges and special educational needs provision, alongside a guarantee that every young person struggling to find work would receive a job, training place or work placement.

The biggest announcement centred on steel.

Starmer confirmed legislation would be introduced this week to allow the government to take full ownership of British Steel, subject to a public interest test.

The move follows government intervention to protect the Scunthorpe steelworks after concerns over its Chinese owner Jingye.

Wales criticism grows

In Wales, however, the speech triggered immediate criticism.

Opponents accused Starmer of failing to address Welsh Labour’s historic collapse in last week’s Senedd election and pointed out that Wales was barely mentioned during the speech itself.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster spokesperson David Chadwick MP accused Labour of becoming “out of touch” with Welsh communities.

He said the Prime Minister had failed to offer “the fresh thinking people are crying out for”.

The British Steel announcement also reignited anger over the handling of the Tata Steel crisis at Port Talbot.

Critics contrasted the move to potentially nationalise British Steel in Scunthorpe with the lack of full government intervention for Port Talbot workers and communities during the closure of the blast furnaces.

The issue is likely to become increasingly politically sensitive in Wales, particularly following Labour’s severe election losses.

Mounting danger

Despite the growing revolt, senior Labour figures continued rallying behind the Prime Minister on Monday evening.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said the “quiet majority” of Labour MPs still supported Starmer and warned against creating a “revolving door of leaders”.

Labour chair Anna Turley also publicly backed the Prime Minister, saying she was “proud” of his leadership.

But BBC political editors reported that the pressure on Starmer was now intensifying by the hour.

Some MPs are believed to be pushing for a rapid leadership contest, while others are reportedly trying to buy time for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to return to Westminster and potentially contest the leadership.

Other names being discussed include Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.

The Prime Minister insisted during the speech that Labour had to prevent Britain going down what he described as a “dark path” and warned against “division” and “grievance politics”.

But by Monday night, the biggest political battle appeared to be inside Labour itself.

For Starmer, the speech was meant to draw a line under Labour’s election disaster.

Instead, it may have accelerated the crisis threatening to end his premiership.