Investigation launched into One Planet Development

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

A council in west Wales is investigating an overdue report from a couple who were given permission to develop a horticultural enterprise and home under Wales’ One Planet Development policy.

Brendan and Ludka Powell were given the go-ahead to create the low-impact development on 2.4 hectares of agricultural land at Hebron in north-west Carmarthenshire in 2019. A planning condition is the submission of annual monitoring reports.

The council said the latest annual report had been due in April. “It has not been provided to date, and this is subject to investigation by planning enforcement,” it said.

The One Planet Development policy enables development in the open countryside, with conditions. People who are given permission under the policy need to be broadly self-sufficient in ways which have a low environmental impact.

Several letters of support were submitted on behalf of the Powells when they applied to the council in 2019 and their venture was approved by the authority’s planning committee.

The scheme officially commenced the following year, and the home that was built achieved highly energy-efficient Passivhaus certification.

In 2023 the Powells applied successfully to the council to retain what was described as a wooden porch at the site and also a touring caravan. There were objections which claimed the porch was a substantial cabin.

Under the One Planet Development policy annual reports have to be submitted outlining what activities have taken place and how they meet an over-arching management plan for the site in question.

The management plan has to be resubmitted in year five along with a report called an ecological footprint analysis. This analysis looks at whether people living on the development have achieved an ecological footprint of 2.4 hectares per person.

There should be potential to reduce further to 1.88 hectares per person over time.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted Mrs Powell. She said she didn’t wish to comment.