A MOTION calling on the Welsh Government to take action to reduce public concerns about large-scale wind and solar projects in Carmarthenshire has been passed by councillors.

The Plaid Cymru motion asked ministers not to accept any more applications for developments of national significance – ones that due to their size would be determined by the Welsh Government – until three criteria had been met.

The criteria were that the Labour administration in Cardiff Bay:

– Sets out how it would ensure that cumulative impact for all outstanding developments of national significance applications including associated infrastructure was to be “properly managed and considered”

– Sets out a coherent plan for upgrading the power transmission and distribution network, commits to burying new cables underground, and demonstrates how local people could use the electricity generated

– Shows how it intends to align consenting regimes for wind farms and transmission lines and not permit more energy parks unless and until there was “demonstrable evidence” they could be implemented and connected to the grid in “a manner consistent with the proper management ofcumulative impacts and the strategic planning of transmissionand distribution routes”.

The 383-word motion said the council agreed with the Welsh Government that as much renewable electricity as possible should be generated and should directly benefit residents locally. It also backed solar panels on houses and commercial buildings and solar projects which didn’t take productive agricultural land out of use.

A second motion by Reform UK councillors calling for a 12-month pause on all new wind, solar farm and pylon applications and for a cumulative impact assessment to be undertaken was defeated.

Carmarthenshire has wind and solar farms operating and others in the pipeline. It could also have new power lines built to connect planned renewable projects north of the county to the grid at Llandyfaelog, between Kidwelly and Carmarthen.

The Welsh Government wants 100% of Wales’ electricity to come from renewable sources by 2035 to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are heating the planet. Switching to electric vehicles and heating systems will increase demand for electricity and the grid needs updating.

Introducing the first motion, Plaid councillor Handel Davies said a “clear cross-party message” was needed that “the visual blight” of renewable energy projects and pylons was not acceptable in Carmarthenshire. It was not, he said, about being “anti-green energy”. He said: “Let’s support renewable energy, but let’s do it the right way.”

Cllr Arwel Davies, of Plaid, said Carmarthenshire was “often called the garden of Wales and rightly so” and that the motion was crucial as residents were concerned about “the scale of multiple and multi-lapping projects”. He added: “The current approach resembles a gold rush for developers.”

Fellow Plaid councillor Denise Owen said residents felt powerless. “Our communities are not against change; they just don’t want to be steamrollered by it,” she said. “We want renewable energy that works with us, not done to us.”

Labour opposition leader Cllr Deryk Cundy said productive farmland must be protected but that delays led to procrastination and “global warming will not wait for any man”. He said it seemed counter-intuitive that a Plaid-led administration which had proudly declared a climate emergency was putting forward a motion which, he said, would suspend clean energy progress. “Pausing progress now would damage investor confidence, delay our net zero goals, slowing the very transition that we urgently need,” he said.

Cllr Hefin Jones, of Plaid, said large-scale solar developments “do and will displace food production” and that food security was just as pressing as energy security. He said people in some parts of Carmarthenshire were facing “an inordinate number” of renewable energy applications and simultaneous consultations.

Labour councillor Crish Davies said renewable energy progress had been held back by “fear, misinformation and vested interests which benefit from delay” and that evidence did not support the assertion that renewable projects threatened food production. “We have lost years to fear-mongering,” she said. “Every pause costs opportunity.”

Plaid councillor Terry Davies, calling for more transparency, said the cumulative impact aspect of projects must be assessed and that failure to support the motion risked undermining support in the planning system, while independent councillor Steve Williams wondered why cables couldn’t be buried underground like he said the gas pipeline from Pembrokeshire across South Wales was.

After a majority of councillors voted in favour of the motion, which will now be referred to cabinet, Reform UK councillors Michelle Beer and Carmelo Colasanto set out their case for a pause on all new wind, solar and pylon applications in Carmarthenshire for 12 months. They wanted a cumulative impact assessment done during this period evaluating effects on landscapes, local economies, biodiversity and residents’ health, and feasibility studies for alternatives. The duo also called for more local control of renewable energy decision-making.

Cllr Beer said the amount of land that could make way for renewable energy schemes made Carmarthenshire feel like a “net zero sacrifice zone”. Cllr Colasanto said the motion aligned with Reform UK’s view on net zero and resonated with farmers, but that the party was not against renewable energy.

A number of councillors then spoke against the Reform UK motion while sympathising with some of the concerns raised.

Plaid councillor Gareth John said: “The motion, as written, risks isolating Carmarthenshire from national efforts and investment – thereby undermining our ability and intention to shape developments in a way that works for and benefits us.”

Labour’s Cllr Cundy said a 12-month pause might mean that nothing restarted afterwards. However, he said “too many people felt excluded” from Welsh Government-determined developments of national significance. “The issue here is the process, not the principle,” he said.

Plaid’s Cllr Hefin Jones said a halt on new applications would disadvantage farmers who sought to install renewable energy schemes to minimise costs and bolster their income at a time when “trading in agriculture is particularly challenging”.

Labour councillor Martyn Palfreman said he wondered if the Reform UK councillors’ motion reflected a genuine concern for the environment and residents in Carmarthenshire. “It seems to me it’s nothing more than an opportunity to make political points supporting a poorly-evidenced national policy position in relation to climate change and that’s why I’ll be voting against this motion today,” he said.

Cllr Beer said the motion was not about “closing all the doors”, and that communities deserved a full (cumulative) impact assessment of renewable energy schemes. She said the motion was “pro-common sense” and put residents first not developers.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The cumulative impact of schemes is considered by PEDW (planning and environment decisions Wales) and ministers as part of the decision-making process.

“Local planning authorities also have the opportunity to raise concerns as part of their local impact report.”

He added: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on specific planning proposals due to the role of Welsh ministers in the process.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has also been advised it was not possible to legally prevent applications being submitted.