Phosphate calculator is now live for developers

WE ARE proud to be the first local planning authority in Wales to come up with a solution to help developers overcome issues regarding new phosphate targets, set by Natural Resources Wales.

This is an issue that has caused considerable frustration for people who wish to build in special areas of conservation.

Across Wales, hundreds of planning applications have been on stop whilst solutions are sought to protect the environment from increased phosphate levels that could be caused by new development.

In Carmarthenshire, a large part of the county is affected – the Afon Tywi, River Wye, Afon Teifi and Afon Cleddau are special areas of conservation, and the latter three are currently failing against the new targets.

But this week we have launched a free tool that will help developers calculate the impact that their construction project could have on phosphate levels, which will in turn give them the information they need to consider the mitigations they can include as part of their planning application.

The phosphate calculator is now live on our website and running in test mode as we’re keen to gather feedback to make any improvements needed.

We’re also setting up a stakeholder forum to gather views from interested parties to help us as we continue to address this challenge and get things moving again.

Sensitive development, proportionate and in-keeping with its local area, will help the county progress.

It may be more homes for local people, or new business premises to support new jobs.

We know that other local authorities are looking our way on this, and it is great to be leading the field.