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Plans for a new nuclear power station on Anglesey were given the thumbs down by planning inspectors concerned about the impact of the project on the Welsh language, one example of bureaucratic obstacles cited this week by a top industry executive.
The recommendation against the Wylfa site on the Welsh island by the Planning Inspectorate — published in February 2021 — was raised this week by a senior nuclear industry figure as they lamented the hurdles that projects have to clear to secure approval. “It’s an example of how difficult planning can be,” the executive said.
The inspectors said the workers needed to build the project could put additional pressure on Anglesey’s limited supply of housing, which in turn could lift rents and house prices — forcing locals to relocate: “In turn, given the number of Welsh speaking residents, this could adversely affect Welsh language and culture.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday unveiled an overhaul of the planning regime for the nuclear industry, suggesting that onerous rules had for decades helped slow the rollout of new reactors.
The prime minister cited the example of one company needing to produce a 30,000 page environmental assessment to get planning permission as an example of red tape he wanted to sweep away.
“Everybody puts their hand up for infrastructure, for change . . . and then puts their hand up again to object to it being in their area. We’ve just got to break through that,” he said.
The application to build a new nuclear power station on Wylfa was made by Japanese developer Hitachi, which in September 2020 pulled out of the scheme for financial reasons.
But the Planning Inspectorate report published a few months later showed that in 2019 it had recommended to ministers that they block Hitachi’s “development consent order” for the £16bn scheme.
The government bought back the site in 2024 for £160mn but the project remains in limbo.
The inspectorate — which handles applications for nationally significant infrastructure projects in England and Wales — raised concerns about the impact on rents, house prices and therefore Welsh culture and language.
It also suggested the scheme would fail to meet some biological diversity standards set by the United Nations. It was concerned that Arctic and Sandwich terns living nearby could be disturbed by the huge construction project.
On balance therefore the inspectorate opposed the scheme, despite its potential benefits for jobs and skills for Anglesey.
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “It is absolutely symptomatic of how planning processes for significant infrastructure projects can disappear down a cwningar — the Welsh for a rabbit warren.”
