THE WELSH LIB DEMS have called for a complete overhaul of the water industry following news that Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is set to pay a proposed £44.7m fine after regulators found serious breaches in its operations.

The penalty has been proposed by water regulator Ofwat, which said its investigation uncovered “serious and unacceptable” failures in the company’s sewage and network services.

Responding to the announcement, Jane Dodds, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said the situation highlighted long-standing problems within the water industry.

She said: “Communities across Wales are sick of hearing apologies whilst raw sewage continues to pollute our rivers.”

Dodds added that enforcement against water companies had been too weak for decades, allowing environmental problems to persist.

“For decades, there has been far too little enforcement when water companies have failed,” she said. “That is why the Welsh Liberal Democrats have led the calls over the last several years for Ofwat to be replaced with a tough new Welsh regulator with real powers to prevent sewage dumping and hold polluters properly to account, alongside a ban on executive bonuses.”

Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and the Environment, Janet Finch-Saunders MS said: “Dŵr Cymru customers will be frustrated to see bills rising while Ofwat has now found serious and unacceptable failures in how the company has operated and maintained its sewage network.

“This £44.7 million enforcement package raises a fundamental question for customers across Wales: what exactly are they paying for? Dŵr Cymru’s bill increases were supposed to deliver improved infrastructure and reduce sewage discharges, yet Wales continues to experience some of the worst pollution incidents in the UK.

“With Wales experiencing far higher levels of sewage discharges than England, the continued inaction from both Dŵr Cymru and the Labour Welsh Government is compromising our waterways and failing communities who rightly expect better.”

The proposed fine follows an investigation by Ofwat into Welsh Water’s handling of sewage and wider network services. The regulator said the breaches were serious enough to warrant significant financial penalties.

The Liberal Democrats say the case demonstrates the need for stronger oversight and reforms to the current regulatory system governing water companies in Wales.

Environmental campaigners have long warned that sewage discharges are harming rivers and coastal waters across Wales, while critics argue that stronger enforcement and regulation are needed to prevent further pollution incidents.

Ofwat’s findings and the proposed penalty are expected to intensify the ongoing political debate over how water services should be regulated and managed in Wales.

A CALL for the relocation of a Pembrokeshire farm diversification scheme which packages and distributes specialist medical equipment across Europe has been given the final go-ahead by councillors.

In an application recommended for refusal at the March meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, 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.

The proposals were before full council rather than its planning committee as members had twice gone against officer recommendations of refusal with a ‘minded to’ support for the scheme, and a ‘cooling off’ period, meaning a final decision would need to be made by all councillors.

Last 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 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 was recommended for refusal on similar grounds.

Agent Wyn Harries has previously said 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, adding that previous articles on the planning application in the Western Telegraph had shown a great deal of public support for the applicants.

At the January meeting, local member, and chair of the planning committee, Cllr Mark Carter moved approval, delegated to senior officers on receipt of a Section 106 legal agreement, saying the proposals had community council support, adding it was “hard not to support a business that keeps local jobs and keeps a family farm viable”.

Cllr Michelle Bateman, whose neighbouring ward has FRIO UK’s base, said she was “fully supportive” of Cllr Carter’s call.

Members were warned of the danger of potentially setting a precedent by going against officer recommendations, with both former leader Cllr David Simpson and Cllr Michael Williams expressing their concerns at going against the officer recommendations.

Cllr Carter’s call, against the recommendation of refusal, was passed by 28 votes to 15, with one abstention.

A CALL to convert a former vineyard restaurant in rural Pembrokeshire to holiday lets as a form of small farm diversification has been refused.

In an application recommended for refusal at the March meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, Barry Cadogan sought permission for a farm diversification and expansion of an existing holiday operation through the conversion of the former Cwm Deri vineyard production base and restaurant to three holiday lets at Oaklea, Martletwy.

It was recommended for refusal on the grounds the proposal “would introduce three new self-catering accommodation units within a countryside location which is not considered to be a proportionate amount of development to support a farm enterprise of limited scale”.

It had previously been recommended for refusal at the December planning committee but was deferred pending a site visit.

An officer report then said that, while the scheme was suggested as a form of farm diversification for the 36-acre farm, no detail had been provided in the form of a business case.

Speaking at that meeting, agent Andrew Vaughan-Harries of Hayston Developments & Planning Ltd, said the former Cwm Deri vineyard had been a very successful business, with a shop and a restaurant before it closed several years ago.

He said Mr Cadogan then bought the site, farming and running a small campsite of 20 spaces, but didn’t wish to run a café or a wine shop; arguing it would easily convert to holiday let use.

Speaking again at the March meeting, he said his applicant had now produced a business case, expecting the proposal would generate half the farm income, saying of the recommendation of refusal: “It almost seems like my client is punished for being a small farmer.”

He later added: “compared to a lot of farms in Pembrokeshire it is small; I think it’s very difficult to make a living out of 36 acres, he’s just a businessman trying to use a building.”

The business figure was debated, with estimations of the income ratio being closer to three-to-one in favour of the tourism side raised.

However, calls to go against officer recommendations and approve the scheme were moved by Cllr Brian Hall, who said the tourism operation was “the only thing that’s keeping him going at the moment,” adding: “I think we should give this applicant a chance; I think if we don’t do this a lot of these smallholdings are going to go out of business.”

Cllr Nick Neumann said the building not being used “doesn’t sit well with me,” warning: “I fear we are just making another building in our county redundant.”

Cllr Michael Williams, who had previously warned of the dangers about going against officer recommendations, saying it was time for a “reality check,” adding: “We have to determine this application as it is before us, not to look for ways round it; that’s the agent’s job.”

Committee chair Cllr Mark Carter, who had previously raised the three-to-one concern, said the business plan as received “doesn’t really stack up to show a form of farm diversification,” adding: “This new proposal with three units of holiday accommodation could well outstrip anything on the farming side by three-to-one.”

Cllr Hall’s call for approval was defeated by six votes to four, with the recommendation of refusal then taken, passing, also by six votes to four.