AHEAD of the July 4 general election, Ceredigion Preseli general election hopefuls have outlined what they will do the support farming and the countryside.

As part of constituency changes, bits of north Pembrokeshire – including St Davids and– are joining the new Mid and South Pembrokeshire constituency.

Other parts of the north of the county are now in the new Ceredigion Preseli constituency; which extends up past Aberystwyth and also includes Cilgerran, Crymych, St Dogmaels, Fishguard and Llanrhian.

There’s now a 15-candidate battle for the two seats, eight in Mid and South Pembrokeshire and seven in Ceredigion Preseli.

With a July 4 date set for the general election, candidates for the new Ceredigion Preseli seat are: Ben Lake for Plaid Cymru, Liberal Democrat Mark Williams, Welsh Labour’s Jackie Jones, Conservative Aled Thomas, Tomos Barlow for the Green Party, Karl Robert Pollard for Reform UK, and Taghrid Al-Mawed for the Workers Party of Britain.

In the run-up to the election, all candidates were asked: “The seat is quite rural in nature; what will you do to help farming and the countryside?”

Plaid Cymru candidate Ben Lake said: “Farming plays an extremely important role in both the economic and social fabric of our rural communities.

“At a time of growing global instability, it is more important than ever that the strategic importance of farming’s contribution to our food security is recognised, safeguarded, and promoted by Government.

“I would ensure that domestic producers are not undermined by any new international trade deals between the UK Government and countries such as Australia and New Zealand and I would fight for fairer regulation of the grocery supply chain, so that farmers and producers are treated fairly by the large food retailers who dominate the UK food system.

“I will continue to work with farmers, farming unions and my colleagues in the Senedd to ensure that our family farms are not put at any risk.”

Liberal Democrat candidate Mark Williams said: “Farming is critical to the economies of Ceredigion and Preseli. While much of the farming agenda is devolved, much isn’t.

“The hastily drawn up Australia and New Zealand  trade agreements must be renegotiated in line with our own health, environmental and animal welfare standards. We need to strengthen the Grocery Code Adjudicator to protect consumers from unfair price rises and to support farmers.

“At the time of Brexit, farmers were told there would be no loss of financial resources for the farming sector and yet estimates suggest that Wales has been short-changed by £250m. We urgently need that funding.

“Welsh Labour have paused their dangerous SFS. We must ensure that the worst aspects of it do not return, and the industry supported, not threatened.”

Gren Party candidate Tomos Barlow said: “I recognise the hard work that farmers do to put food on our plates, but we also recognise agricultures contribution to the environment as the greatest driver in nature loss and pollution in rivers.

“To tackle this, we want to triple financial support (through the increasing funding to the Senedd) to farmers not only to make farming more job secure but also to help the transition to nature-friendly farming.

“I’d also look for ways to encourage apprenticeship schemes to encourage more young people to enter the agricultural sector.”

Workers Party candidate Taghrid Al-Mawed said: “Workers Party sees farmers as vital to our country, they are the backbone of society, without them, we starve… No farmers, no food.

“We want to ensure our nation is more self-sufficient and less reliant on food imports. Food from local farms going into local shops reduces the food miles and stops the farce of seeing things like New Zealand lamb on the shelves of Welsh supermarkets.

“Farmers are not just there for a photo opportunity with the local MP at the local mart, they need proper support from a government that puts them and their survival first, not corporate profits.”

Jackie Jones, Labour candidate said: “Our rural communities are a cornerstone of this constituency. They must be protected and nurtured. Labour has a plan for our rural communities:  food security is a top priority and farmers are vital.

“I will help to build on our successful agricultural cooperatives – doubling their size to provide small family farmers opportunities to work together. This will create the environment for greater resilience to stand up  to large supermarket pricing, providing solutions to agricultural supply, dairy, crop and horticulture.

“Labour will provide business support for start-ups, financial support for FE colleges and innovation in practice as well as transport, good housing, broadband and relieving poverty.”

Conservative candidate Aled Thomas said: “On rural issues this election is personal to me. I run my family farm with my brother and my dad and know first-hand the challenges that farmers face, and how badly they have been let down by the Welsh Government.

“As a young farmer and agronomist, I will use my extensive experience of the countryside to be a strong rural voice in parliament and fight for a brighter future for the future of the agricultural industry.

“Farmers are the best custodians of nature and wildlife there are, and I hope I can use my voice to enhance this further.”

All candidates were contacted.

A FAMILY farm business at Rhydsais Farm in Talgarreg, Ceredigion, has been prosecuted after a slurry store collapse resulted in the pollution of at least 12km of waterways.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) found Rhydsais Cyf guilty of environmental crime after the farm’s slurry store collapsed on February 16, 2022, which released between 60,000 and 70,000 gallons of slurry into an unnamed tributary of the Afon Clettwr Fach.

Water sample analysis from the subsequent investigation showed significant pollution levels extending from Rhydsais Farm to the confluence of the Afon Clettwr with the Afon Teifi, 12km away.

Rhydsais Cyf was found guilty of an offence under the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2016.

It was ordered to pay a total of £13,035. This included a £5,000 fine, a victim surcharge of £190 and £7,845 towards NRW’s costs of bringing the prosecution.

The unnamed tributary flows into the Afon Clettwr Fach, which flows into the Afon Clettwr, which eventually flows into the Afon Teifi.

The collapse of the slurry store was initially reported to NRW by one of the directors of Rhydsais Cyf, and subsequent pollution reports were made to NRW by members of the public downstream of the farm.

Natural Resources Wales environment officers were diverted from other duties to investigate the incident on the farm and to assess the downstream impact.

On the day of the incident, the river downstream was found to be heavily discoloured and covered in foam, with a strong odour of slurry.

Six dead fish were discovered in the Afon Clettwr Fach the day after the incident. This likely underestimates the total fish kill as the pollution had caused poor visibility, and the rivers were in high flow following rain, NRW said.

Investigation
A day after the incident, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water alerted NRW to unusually high levels of ammonia detected at the Llechryd Water Treatment Works abstraction point which supplies water to properties in south Ceredigion.

The abstraction point was promptly closed until ammonia levels had dropped. The elevated level of ammonia may have been due to the Rhydsais slurry flowing through.

During the investigation, it was revealed that the collapsed slurry store had been in place since the 1970s and had not received any formal maintenance apart from visual inspections in the past decade.

NRW contended in court that the pollution was caused by the slurry store being beyond its lifespan and had not been maintained properly.

Team leader of the Ceredigion Environment Team, Dr Carol Fielding, said: “The impact of this incident was felt well beyond the stream that the slurry entered. It damaged water quality and local wildlife within the catchment of the Afon Teifi.

“Every farmer has a duty to ensure their slurry stores are structurally sound to prevent such disasters.

“We will not hesitate to take enforcement action – including prosecution – when we have evidence of serious environmental breaches.

“We regulate and work with farmers to avoid damage to the environment and we encourage them to contact us or Farming Connect for advice and support.”

A CALL to remove an agricultural condition on a Pembrokeshire property, granted in the 1990s for a vegetable nursery which later suffered with the rise of supermarkets, has been approved.

In an application recommended for approval at Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee meeting of June 25, Mr K Morgan sought the removal of a 1993 agricultural worker-only occupancy condition on land at Oakvale, Spittal.

Earlier this year, a certificate of Lawfulness was granted at Oakdale; the property having been occupied for over 10 years in breach of the occupancy condition.

An application for a certificate of lawfulness allows an applicant to stay at a development if they can provide proof of occupancy over a prolonged period, normally in excess of four years.

A supporting statement for Mr Morgan’s application says he and his late wife, established a vegetable and plant nursery at Oakvale in 1990, later submitting a successful 1993 application for a dwelling with an agricultural worker condition.

They sold direct from the site and also to local shops, the nursery doing well for a number of years before suffering “with the advent of supermarkets,” ceasing all together in 2010, by which time the property was also serving as a small caravan site, which continues to this day.

Mr Morgan has continued to live at Oakvale whilst managing the caravan site, with his daughter and her family also living on-site to help care for Mr Morgan due to illness.

Speaking at the meeting, Councillor Steve Alderman expressed concerns at the removal of an agricultural residence condition, but said he understood the reason for such an application.

Chief planning officer David Popplewell, repeated details mentioned in a report for committee members, which had said: “It is possible for the property to be occupied in breach of the condition by any non-qualifying person in perpetuity.  Whilst it is theoretically possible that a future purchaser might comply with the occupancy condition, meaning that the certificate would fall away, the consequences of such an action would result in a loss of upwards of 30 per cent of the value of the property.

“The very low likelihood of this course of action is such that the fall-back position associated with the certificate is a material consideration sufficient to outweigh the conflict with planning policy.”

Following a call by Cllr Brian Hall to follow the recommendation for approval, conditional approval was unanimously backed by committee members.