'I'm putting the valley before party poltics'

A FORMER Conservative candidate for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr has stepped down from the party's Senedd candidate list to spearhead a cross-party campaign to designate the Towy Valley as a National Landscape in a bid to fight off pylon plans.

- IAN LEWIS

Havard Hughes - who came within 1,809 votes of then Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards at the 2019 general election - has been deputy chair of the Llandeilo Anti-Pylons Campaign since its foundation and also founded the Carmarthenshire Residents Action Group (Craig Sir Gar), campaigning to stop what he describes as the threat of industrialisation of Carmarthenshire's countryside.

The largest project facing the valley is a plan by Green GEN Cymru to erect 27m-high pylons. The 132kV overhead electricity lines would link Nant Mithil Energy Park, east of Llandrindod Wells in Powys, to the National Grid in Carmarthenshire.

Green GEN Cymru argues the project will increase grid capacity and utilise green energy in Wales.

However, Mr Hughes said steps must be taken to halt these plans.

He said: “Carmarthenshire’s countryside is facing an existential battle against industrialisation.