National Park launches legal challenge to alternative energy plant plans

The Brecon Beacons National Park Authority has launched a High Court legal challenge against the Welsh Assembly Government after it gave permission for an renewable energy plant to be built on a farm within its borders.

The go-ahead for the anaerobic digester plant, in which  micro-organisms are used to create energy by breaking down biodegradable waste, was granted by the Welsh Assembly in January. The proposed plant would have used waste from a local abattoir, turning the gas from it into energy and using the rotted waste as fertilizer.

The national park authority has issued judicial review proceedings at the High Court, claiming that the process “failed to explain the way in which the inspector applied planning policy".

Planning permission was initially applied for in 2007, awarded in 2008 but subsequently withdrawn last year, provoking the applicants to launch a judicial review. The Welsh Assembly Government's planning inspector subsequently gave the project permission proceed in January this year.

A spokeswoman for the park authority told the BBC: "The national park authority has considered the inspector's decision to allow the appeal at Great Porthamel Farm in Talgarth and believes the decision does not explain the way in which the inspector applied planning policy.

"This lack of explanation is likely to have adverse implications for future applicants who apply for planning permission under the farm diversification policy, as we do not know how the inspector applied the policy in this case. In order to assist future applicants, we feel we have little choice but to challenge the inspector's decision due to the lack of reasoning."

The Assembly Government said it could not comment on the case while it is subject to proceedings at the High Court.