Pembrokeshire County Council has warned First Minister Eluned Morgan that recent planning guidelines concerning nitrates are putting hundreds of homes and potentially thousands of jobs in the county at risk.

In a strongly-worded letter to the First Minister, Cllr Jacob Williams conveys the Council’s “great concern” over Natural Resources Wales’ recent river nitrates guidance in relation to development, which has “essentially placed a moratorium on certain types of development in Pembrokeshire.”

Development is required to demonstrate nitrogen neutrality across approximately 75 per cent of the county, including Haverfordwest, Narberth, Pembroke and Pembroke Dock, and this area amounts to approximately 35 per cent of the council’s future housing land supply.

The letter cites a previous communication sent by Leader Cllr Jon Harvey to Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government Jane Bryant MS, which mentions: 200 live planning applications affected, including 50 housing applications; 600 new homes at risk, of which 220 are affordable homes; 200 affordable homes funded by Social Housing Grant (SHG) jeopardised, representing £25 million of social housing investment. 2,236 units in the replacement Development Plan (LDP2) fall within the affected catchment, and thousands of direct and indirect jobs are put at risk, it states.

Cllr Williams’ letter adds: “Whilst there is tangible evidence that river quality is poor, there is also evidence that Pembrokeshire County Council is being unfairly hampered in its ability to make progress on development – including significant housebuilding which attracted Welsh Government funding.”

“The positive impact of measures tackling water quality must be balanced against the harm created by this moratorium on development, and the associated loss of economic activity.”

Among other requests, it calls for explanations about how Welsh Government “intends to address the issue and find a way forward to allow development to take place,” along with timelines.