Outrage at Park's 'yes' to tourism blot
9th December 2003
The National Parks watchdog the Council for National Parks (CNP) (1) has strongly criticised yesterday's decision by the Development Control Committee of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority that it is 'minded to approve' the Bluestone tourism development (2).
CNP's Head of Policy Ruth Chambers said: "this decision flies in the face of the National Park's own policies and national guidance (3). We are deeply disappointed that the Committee has ignored the advice of its professional officers who strongly recommended that the application should be refused because of the damage it would cause to the National Park and the inappropriate signal that an approval would send to other would-be developers".
"The fact that the majority of the Authority's members are from the County Council, which has already endorsed part of the development and pledged a £1 million loan for the scheme, has inevitably cast a shadow on the impartiality of yesterday's decision".
"We note that the Authority's members from the County Council all voted to back the development because of the jobs the developer claims would be created in Pembrokeshire. We are very concerned both about the claims themselves and the fact that these members felt that jobs should take precedence over the Authority's duty to protect the National Park. The Authority's members appointed by the National Assembly for Wales all voted against the development, because of conflict with policy and the statutory requirement that the protection of the National Park should prevail".
"This is not the end of the road for Bluestone. The application will now be referred to the Welsh Assembly Government Environment Minister Carwyn Jones AM by the Park Authority because of the conflict with the Authority's own policies (4). We will be pressing him to call in this application and hold a public inquiry because of the national issues involved and to resolve the clash between local jobs and national environmental issues".
Ruth Chambers concluded: "In our view, the legal opinion commissioned by the Park's independent monitoring officer has highlighted serious questions about the role played by some of the Authority's members on the Bluestone application. At this stage, we have not ruled out the possibility of a legal challenge of the Authority's decision, should it still wish to approve this development after it has had time to reflect on the serious implications which this would have for the National Park (5)".
Notes to Editors
1. The Council for National Parks is the national charity that works to protect and enhance the National Parks of England and Wales, and areas that merit National Park status, and promote understanding and quiet enjoyment of them for the benefit of all.
2. The development within the National Park comprises 340 timber lodges which would be imported from Estonia, a brand new village, a sports club and a sewage treatment works.
3. The national policy test for major development proposals in National Parks is set out in Planning Policy Wales and states that developments like Bluestone should only be allowed in exceptional circumstances, which have not been demonstrated in this case.
4. The application is a departure from the Authority's agreed policies which means that it has to be referred to the Welsh Assembly Government who may decide to call in the application and hold a public inquiry.
5. The National Park Authority's development control committee's terms of reference require departure applications to be re-considered after a cooling off period. This will be done in the first development control committee meeting of 2004 on 28 January.
For press queries please contact:
Ruth Chambers, Head of Policy on
020 7924 4077 ext. 222