Following the abolition of the IPC (Infrastructure Planning Commission) I believe it’s the perfect opportunity to devolve the powers for large energy projects, over 50MW to Wales. Pembrokeshire has many large energy projects located within the county and it’s vital that decisions are made locally for the benefit of the local people. I’ve recently written to the Tory Secretary of State for Wales, Cheryl Gillan MP for Chesham and Amersham, urging her to press for these powers on Wales’ behalf in Westminster.

The large energy projects based in Pembrokeshire are a vital component to the local and national economy in Wales, and it's only right that the powers over large energy projects are now devolved to the National Assembly, in order for future development to fully reflect the needs, aspirations and concerns of the people of the county. In the future large scale renewable energy projects will play an important part in reducing carbon emissions and of course our dependence on oil. To do this I believe that decisions should be made on a more local level so that we as a country can plan ahead and decide our direction and priorities in this field. In the Assembly the Tory and Liberal Democrat Groups have stated that they support this move and in light of such strong cross-part consensus I’d hope that Cheryl Gillan is prepared to listen and fight on behalf of the people of Wales.