Interesting to note that Snowdonia Aerospace LLP has “satisfied” the 2 legal charges against it (MoD and WAG) on 17/12/20. Wonder where the money came from??

This road will save the average motorist 49 seconds (Gwynedd Council assessment) and will result in an additional 21 accidents (Gwynedd Council assessment – and we all know what happened at Dolgellau designed by the same team). It will generate additional noise in a quiet area of the National Park. It will obscure the views from numerous properties and from the Wales Coastal Path (which it will bisect) and will be visible from SSSIs and large swathes of the National Park. It completely destroys the setting of a Scheduled Ancient Monument (Bronze Age standing stones used as a marker for high tide and the start of a causeway across the Rhinogs). It will remove 90% of passing trade from village businesses (Gwynedd Council assessment). The route is across a Category C1 (worst type) flood plain, hence the need for the road to be elevated by up to 7m – an urban expressway. It will increase flooding to farmland that currently does not flood (NRW report). It does not comply with Welsh Government Planning Policy, Welsh Government Transport Appraisal Guidelines, Local Transport Plan or the Snowdonia National Park Local Development Plan. Little (alright no) account is made for sustainability or the Well-Being of Future Generations Act and the Welsh Government and Gwynedd Council declared climate emergency is ignored.

Wow – so you may ask how on earth did the “independent” Snowdonia National Park Authority approve this application by Gwynedd Council for planning permission? Well the full planning committee has 18 members, 9 Local Councillors appointed by Gwynedd Council, 3 Local Councillors appointed by Conwy County Borough Council, and 6 members appointed by the Welsh Assembly Government. At the crucial vote there were 9 votes cast in favour of approval of which 7 were Gwynedd Councillors (one couldn’t vote as he was chair). The 7 included the local councillor who actually started the bypass ball rolling in 2012. I believe it to be Park etiquette for Conwy councillors not to vote on Gwynedd matters and vice versa. Judge and Jury indeed.
It is worth pointing out for completeness that the Planning Officer also recommended approval. Which given the extent of non-compliance listed above raises the question why? The rumour was that Gwynedd Council had told SNPA that if it refused permission they would appeal, leading to a public inquiry costing upwards of £100k (this figure is in the Gwynedd Council Risk Register for the project – funded by the Welsh Government, ie we taxpayers). Being strapped for cash SNPA ignored all the evidence and instead believed the propaganda that building the bypass would lead to hundreds of jobs at the airfield, and so was justified. The airfield operators have promised hundreds of jobs on an almost annual basis since first being involved in 2008. Currently there are at most 2 people employed in maintenance.

Also worth noting that viable alternatives to the bypass were presented to Gwynedd Council to relieve the traffic congestion at the bridge in the village which, for a few hours around lunchtime on maybe 10 days in the Summer, can cause traffic to be held up for 10 to 15 minutes. They refused to discuss the proposals.

More background and details of the bypass can be found on this blog, noting though that it’s not been updated for a little while http://www.protectllanbedr.org

From looking at the accounts for the Brawdy Business Park, little was ever done. The only asset seemed to be the base itself. What was the point of it all?

I’ve downloaded some docs but I can’t find the loan from WG. You sure about that?

Thank you very much. I was unaware of the Brawdy connection. Many years ago an old mate of mine was stationed there in the Fleet Air Arm days. Under what name was Brawdy owned?