DARC Matters – 20 – The Plaid Factor

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PARC Against DARC, the campaign set up in 2024 to oppose the US military’s proposed DARC radar array in Pembrokeshire, has submitted an official request to “call in” the planning application for DARC to the newly formed Welsh Government, citing what it describes as “an extremely promising step forward for the campaign with an anti-DARC Plaid Cymru government now elected in the Senedd”.

The controversial scheme would involve building 27 radar dishes within a stone’s throw of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

Campaigners point out that Plaid Cymru voted at its national conference in October 2024 to take action to oppose the project, and so now may hold the keys to deciding its fate.

The MOD submitted the planning application to the county council earlier in April and the application is open to consultation until 20 May.

If the application is “called in”, freshly appointed Planning Minister Siân Gwenllian could take over its adjudication.

Campaigners argue that DARC should be “called in” to Welsh Government on the basis that it is “clearly a nationally significant development that lies well outside of the scope for consideration of Pembrokeshire County Council alone”, urging that it is called in at the earliest opportunity so that a “fair and appropriate consideration of the suitability of a development that is so widely opposed can be placed within the context of the national priorities of Wales going forward”.