#naturalresourceswales — Public Fediverse posts

PEATLANDS: Almost £2m from the Lottery to bring the bogs back above the Afan and Neath valleys

The uplands between the Afan, Neath, Cynon and Rhondda valleys are in line for three years of restoration work, new footpaths and free outdoor activities after a second National Lottery award of almost £2m.

Lost Peatlands Connections will work across 16 sites covering almost 870 hectares, re-wetting bogs and restoring heath, grassland and woodland on the plateau that commercial forestry and wind turbines now dominate.

For walkers, the headline is five new routes with interpretation along the way, plus an explorer app, virtual reality experiences and a podcast series to open up a landscape most people only see from the valley floor.

For residents, the programme promises volunteering days, outdoor learning for schools, wellbeing activities, heritage skills training, public events and creative projects, with delivery due to start this month.

The project is led by Neath Port Talbot Council‘s countryside and wildlife team and takes in the upland core of the historic county of Glamorgan. That includes the ground around Pen y Cymoedd wind farm.

From 23 hectares to 870

It builds on the original Lost Peatlands of South Wales scheme, launched in 2021 with £1.56m of Lottery money to restore 256 hectares of bog that had been ploughed and drained for timber after the Second World War.

By 2024 that work had turned a 50-hectare former plantation above Glyncorrwg, the size of 70 rugby pitches, back into wet peatland by blocking drains and flipping tree stumps back into the ground.

With the new award, National Lottery Heritage Fund money for the two projects comes to around £3.5m. Match funding and partner contributions lift the value of the latest phase alone to almost £2.6m, the council says.

Peat matters because it holds carbon. In good condition a bog locks it in and soaks up rainfall; drained and dried out, it leaks carbon into the air and sends water straight downhill.

The council says the work will leave the hills more resilient for wildlife while helping with carbon storage, natural flood management and the wildfires that have scorched the Afan Valley plateau in recent summers.

Who is involved

Alongside the council, the partnership brings in Natural Resources Wales through its National Peatland Action Programme, and the wind farm’s owner Vattenfall.

The Woodland Trust and Coed Lleol, the Small Woods Association, are also on board. So is the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.

Across the county line, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council completes the line-up.

Cllr Jeremy Hurley, the council’s cabinet member for climate change and economic growth, said the funding would allow the partners “to build on the success of the previous project” and called it “a major investment in the landscapes, wildlife and communities of the South Wales Valleys”.

He added that the project “will create opportunities for people of all ages to improve their wellbeing, learn new skills, discover local heritage and develop a stronger connection with the natural world around them”.

Cllr Cen Phillips, cabinet member for nature, tourism and wellbeing, said the money “will help more people experience and connect with these incredible places” and should encourage more residents and visitors “to explore all that the area has to offer”.

Andrew White, director of the National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales, said the project “brings together nature recovery, heritage conservation and community engagement in a way that will create lasting benefits for both people and places”.

Anyone wanting to follow the work or get involved can contact [email protected] or find the project as @LostPeatlands on social media.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Major peatland site restored in Neath Port Talbot: the 50-hectare Glyncorrwg site, the size of 70 rugby pitches, brought back to bog in 2024.

Restoration of ‘lost peatlands’ to combat climate change: how the first 23 hectares at Castell Nos were re-wetted with peat dams.

Lost Peatlands project key in fight against climate and nature emergencies: why the plateau above the Afan and Rhondda holds the most southerly deep peat of its size in Wales.

South Wales’s ‘Lost Peatlands’ given new lease of life: the original £1.56m Lottery award in 2021.

SWANSEA: Residents’ worries about the city’s rivers and beaches are heading to Welsh Water

What residents told their MP about the city’s rivers, beaches and sea is going to Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.

Torsten Bell, the Swansea West MP, says the ideas and concerns raised at his Turning the Tides meeting on Thursday evening will be put to the company at a meeting with him.

More than 60 people went along to the meeting in Swansea city centre, according to his office.

Hamish Osborn of Natural Resources Wales was on the panel, alongside David Lewis of Swansea Community Boat Trust.

So was Dawn Thomas of the Gower Society and Nature Days.

According to Bell’s office, the speakers set out the current state of local waterways and the work already under way to protect and restore them.

Tawe sickness reports and sewage off Mumbles: why Swansea’s water is on the agenda

The meeting follows a summer in which children were reported ill after swimming in the River Tawe, and the First Minister asked NRW to investigate.

NRW found no evidence of pollution, permit breaches or any other environmental incident that would explain the reported illnesses, the Welsh Government said in a written statement on 2 September.

Upstream, Welsh Water named its treatment works at Trebanos in 2020 as the worst of its 50 problem sites in Wales.

Mike Hedges, the Labour Member of the Senedd for Gŵyr Abertawe, told the chamber in June that the works could not separate rainwater from sewage. He said NRW had confirmed that work to stop its regular discharges into the river was not likely to be finished until 2030.

On Gower, NRW’s own sampling stops when the summer bathing season ends.

Volunteers overseen by Thomas have been testing the sea through the winter instead. Their second season ran 77 tests at five beaches, and eight found sewage.

Half of those were at Knab Rock in Mumbles, after heavy rain.

In June, the regulator Ofwat confirmed a £44.7m package forcing Welsh Water to fix its sewage failures, which critics called too little, too late.

Torsten Bell: ‘This isn’t the end of the conversation’

Bell said it was “brilliant to see so many residents turn out to have their say on this issue”.

He added: “It’s clear people in Swansea care deeply about our rivers and coastline and want to see real action to improve them.”

Hearing directly from people doing the work on the ground was “invaluable”, the MP said.

Bell said: “This isn’t the end of the conversation. It’s the start.”

He said he would keep working with residents, campaigners and agencies “to push for the investment and action our waterways need”.

What Welsh Water has said about water quality

In September, a spokesperson for Welsh Water said water quality was “not just an issue for water companies”.

The spokesperson pointed to industry, urban runoff, soil erosion, rural land use, illegal misconnections and septic tanks. They said the company was investing £4bn between 2025 and 2030, including £889m on storm overflows.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

SWANSEA: Kids were reported ill after swimming in the Tawe. Now Torsten Bell wants residents round a table about the water
How the meeting came about, and Swansea’s year on the water.

RIVER TAWE: First Minister orders investigation after sewage and sickness concerns raised in Senedd
What the Senedd was told about Trebanos, and the 2030 date.

GOWER: Volunteers find sewage at beaches after heavy rain
A second winter of testing the sea, and what the samples showed.

WELSH WATER: £44.7m sewage package confirmed
What the regulator’s package pays for, and why critics were not satisfied.

More on sewage and water quality
Our coverage of the rivers and beaches across Swansea Bay.

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1251789/ Wales cannot prevent every climate impact, but we can prepare for them #BeFloodReady #Britain #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #flooding #GreatBritain #NaturalResourcesWales #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales

CWMGWRACH: Rhondda man taken on to clear building waste dumped it on the road to Unity Mine

A Rhondda man taken on to get rid of construction waste has been given a 12-month community order after it was found dumped in two large piles on the access road to Unity Mine in Cwmgwrach.

Shane Richards, of Maerdy Road, Ferndale, must also pay Neath Port Talbot Council £1,016.97 in costs and the Crown Prosecution Service £85, more than £1,100 in all.

Plasterboard and plaster left on the Unity Mine road

The dumping was reported to the council in November 2024. Its investigating officer found two large piles of waste, mainly plasterboard and plaster, the council says.

The investigation led officers to an address in Treherbert, where it was confirmed that Richards had been used as a subcontractor to take the waste away.

A check of Natural Resources Wales waste exemption records confirmed the land did not have the permit needed for waste to be deposited there.

Interviews ignored, then nearly two years until Merthyr sentencing

Richards was invited to several interviews in February 2025 but did not attend or respond, according to the council.

He appeared at Merthyr Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 October to be sentenced for the fly-tipping offence, along with several unrelated shoplifting offences.

His 12-month community order comes with 12 months of supervision and a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

Scott Jones: fly-tipping is ‘a serious environmental crime’

Cllr Scott Jones, the council’s cabinet member for streetscene, called fly-tipping “a serious environmental crime that damages our communities, harms the local environment and places an unnecessary burden on public resources”.

He said Neath Port Talbot was “a beautiful county with vast areas of countryside”, and that the council’s Waste Enforcement Team “works tirelessly to investigate incidents such as this and to hold those responsible to account”.

He thanked residents who report fly-tipping and urged anyone who sees it happen to keep passing on information so the council can act.

Paying someone to take your rubbish? Check their waste carrier licence

The council is urging residents and businesses to hand their waste only to authorised carriers. Anyone can check a waste carrier’s licence on the Natural Resources Wales register.

Last week a Swansea firm boss was ordered to pay almost £3,000 after business waste his company had collected, using a subcontractor, was dumped in three piles on Baran Road above Pontardawe.

Neath Port Talbot recorded 884 fly-tipping incidents in 2024/25, up 40% on the year before, according to Welsh Government figures.

The Welsh Government’s consultation on raising the maximum on-the-spot fine for fly-tipping from £400 to £5,000 closes on Wednesday.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

PONTARDAWE: Firm boss must pay almost £3,000 after three piles of business waste dumped on mountain road
Last week’s subcontractor case on Baran Road.

YSTRADGYNLAIS: Man hit with £1,200-plus bill for dumping household junk on Gwrhyd mountain road
Another Neath Port Talbot prosecution.

LITTER: You could be fined for rubbish thrown from your car even if you weren’t in it, and fly-tippers could face £5,000
The consultation on tougher on-the-spot fines, closing on Wednesday.

More on fly-tipping
Every prosecution and crackdown across south west Wales.

NRW: Welsh Tories want the watchdog that polices Withyhedge and the Llanelli fly site scrapped

The body that rewrote Withyhedge’s permit last week, policed the Llanelli fly crisis over the summer and declared the whole of Wales in drought in July should be scrapped, the Welsh Conservatives say.

Andrew RT Davies, the party’s shadow environment minister and Member of the Senedd for Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg, has repeated his call for Natural Resources Wales to be closed and replaced, with its regulatory and commercial work split into separate bodies.

Mr Davies said: “Natural Resources Wales is unfit for purpose. It must be closed and replaced.”

The timing follows Monday’s announcement that the Conservatives in England would abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency and bring their powers under direct ministerial control. Mr Davies called it “the correct approach”.

He said the same move in Wales would remove unnecessary bureaucracy and make the people exercising regulatory powers directly accountable, and that Welsh Conservative plans to replace NRW would follow the approach taken in England.

What NRW does in south-west Wales

NRW is the environment regulator, the forestry body and the flood authority rolled into one, formed in 2013 from three predecessors. Its decisions have run through three of the year’s biggest local stories.

Last week it approved a new permit for Withyhedge Landfill near Haverfordwest, writing six metres of overfilling into the rules at a site it had ranked the worst-performing permitted installation in Wales two years running. The regulator said the law obliged it to.

In July it suspended part of AMG Resources’ permit in Llanelli, the site blamed for the summer’s fly plague, then lifted the ban in August while keeping an enforcement notice in place. Glanymor’s councillors had called for NRW’s chair to quit over its handling of the crisis.

It also declared the whole of Wales in drought at the end of July, and moved the south west into recovery last month as the rivers came back.

For and against

The regulator’s defenders say the problem is funding, not structure. In May last year the Senedd’s cross-party Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee concluded that “years of under investment have stretched NRW too thin”, and that it was already not funded sufficiently to enforce against environmental crime in Wales.

The committee said it was “gravely concerned” at NRW’s plan to attend fewer low-category pollution incidents and adopt a “higher tolerance of risk”. Its chair at the time, Plaid Cymru’s Llyr Gruffydd, said that risked “turning a blind eye to pollution incidents that, while perhaps deemed less impactful, still erode the health of our ecosystems and communities”.

It was the second year running the committee had said so. Its 2024 scrutiny found NRW “faces a significant funding shortfall, exacerbated by rising costs and grant-in-aid allocations that do not match inflation”, and that staffing was inadequate for its nature goals; the Welsh Government rejected its recommendation that NRW set out service agreements defining what it could deliver for the money.

NRW told the BBC it had to “live within the resources available to us”, and that of the incidents it attended the previous year only 5% were confirmed as having a significant or major environmental impact.

The BBC reported that NRW’s core grant from the Welsh Government had not risen while costs had, leaving a funding gap heading for £13m in 2025-26 and more than £17m the year after, that it had sought to shed more than 250 posts, and that it is still paying back a £19m advance from the Welsh Government used to settle a tax bill with HMRC over the employment status of its contractors. The final bill, agreed last October, was £14.6m plus £2.95m in penalties suspended for a year, repaid through cuts to NRW’s budget over several years.

In England the plan has drawn condemnation from the Wildlife Trusts, whose chief executive Craig Bennett is reported to have said abolishing environmental regulators amounts to “gross negligence from any party that aspires to government”, exposing homes to flooding and food supplies to biodiversity collapse.

The Countryside Alliance backed it, saying decisions about rural communities should be taken by elected ministers rather than officials.

Mr Davies, a Vale of Glamorgan farmer himself, dismissed the third sector’s objections. “It is time to stop prioritising the wishes of the third sector and start listening to those who feed our nation,” he said, adding that it was time the concerns of farmers were heard “over the quangocracy”.

The England announcement came from shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins at a farming union breakfast at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, as the first stage of a year-long review of the department’s 34 arm’s-length bodies.

NRW is a Welsh Government body, so the Conservatives could only act on the plan by winning power in Cardiff Bay or persuading the Plaid Cymru government to adopt it. The party remains in opposition after May’s election.

Mr Davies has called for NRW to go before, and the party has said it would split the regulatory and commercial roles if it ever got the chance.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

WITHYHEDGE: Landfill overfilled by six metres gets its permit rewritten to fit – NRW’s decision on the worst-performing permitted site in Wales.

LLANELLI: Waste ban lifted as watchdog says AMG site no longer fuelling fly swarms – How the regulator handled the summer’s fly crisis.

More on Andrew RT Davies – The Welsh Conservative’s previous interventions.

More Natural Resources Wales stories

WITHYHEDGE: Landfill overfilled by six metres gets its permit rewritten to fit

Withyhedge Landfill, blamed for months of stink across north Pembrokeshire, has been handed a new permit that writes its past overfilling into the rules.

Natural Resources Wales approved the variation on Thursday. The regulator’s own decision document shows the site at Rudbaxton, near Haverfordwest, had been filled up to six metres higher than the approved profile along its northern edge, an estimated 406,500 cubic metres of extra waste.

The new permit raises the total volume of waste allowed on the site from 6,596,560 to 6,916,867 cubic metres. NRW says the extra 320,307 cubic metres “accounts for some of the overfill identified” and “is not a request for additional future waste capacity”.

Worst-performing site in Wales for two years running

The decision document is blunt about the operator’s record. NRW says warning letters and enforcement notices over odour and other pollution left Withyhedge “ranked as the worst-performing permitted installation in Wales in both 2023 and 2024”, with further investigations into compliance still running.

Operator Resources Management UK Ltd told NRW it had no relevant convictions. After consultation responses challenged that, the regulator asked it to look again. RML filed an updated declaration, and NRW says that while the company itself has no convictions, “relevant persons associated with the applicant have convictions that are relevant”.

NRW says none of that merited refusal. It weighed the poor record against the operator’s cooperation, including shutting the site voluntarily between May 2024 and January 2025 for improvement works and “heavily investing in the site’s infrastructure”.

Nicholas Bettinson, NRW’s permitting service manager, said: “We recognise the impact previous odour issues had on local communities and understand why people feel strongly. Our role is to regulate in line with the law. Where an application meets the required standards, we are obliged to issue the permit.”

He said the approved variation “has secured stronger regulatory controls and enhanced environmental protection measures at the site”. NRW says its investigation into permit breaches continues separately.

What changes on the ground

Beyond the levels, the permit lets RML bring in up to 50,000 tonnes a year of soil and stone classed as recovered waste, to build landfill cells and restore the site. NRW says it is satisfied that counts as recovery rather than disposal.

The operator has six months to rewrite its environmental management system, including its odour, landfill gas and leachate plans, and submit it to NRW for approval. Leachate is the liquid that drains through buried waste. Monitoring of groundwater, surface water and landfill gas has also been revised.

The site also keeps its permission to take up to 5,000 tonnes of asbestos waste a year in a dedicated cell, something residents told NRW the application had not made clear. NRW says that was already allowed and the variation does not change it, but the operator must now meet strengthened conditions, including a year of dust monitoring along the site boundary, before any asbestos cell is built.

NRW says none of the approved changes should increase odour or noise, though it acknowledges noise complaints came in while the application was being decided. Public Health Wales told the regulator it foresaw “no adverse risks to public health” from the variation.

240 objections, a school and the council

Forty-six people responded to the first consultation, including the Stop the Stink campaign group. When NRW published its draft decision, 240 more wrote in.

Governors of Spittal Church in Wales School told NRW the odour between late 2023 and June 2024 had hit outdoor learning, pupils’ wellbeing and the school’s reputation. They asked for the monitoring equipment installed at the school to stay long term. NRW says off-site monitoring “does not form part of the environmental permit”.

Pembrokeshire County Council objected that the new levels conflict with the contours approved under planning permission, “creating a situation that is not capable of lawful compliance”. The council also told NRW the operator needs to apply for fresh planning permission. NRW’s reply: that is not relevant to its decision.

NRW says planning and permitting are separate systems, that it has a legal duty to grant a variation that meets the rules, and that waiting for a planning decision would have left it open to an appeal for non-decision.

Complaints about lorry traffic, tourism and the visual impact of the site were ruled outside the scope of the permit.

‘Actions, not words’

Paul Davies, Welsh Conservative Member of the Senedd for Ceredigion Penfro, said: “After everything communities surrounding Withyhedge have already endured, words about stronger controls will not be enough.”

He said: “Residents have lived with unacceptable odours, disruption and months of uncertainty. They have attended meetings, submitted evidence, responded to consultations and repeatedly raised concerns about what has been happening at this site. They now deserve more than assurances.”

He went on: “NRW has made the decision to approve this variation and it must therefore demonstrate that the tougher controls it describes are rigorously monitored and enforced. There can be no return to the situation local communities experienced previously and no tolerance of further breaches of environmental regulations.”

He said he would be “pressing for that investigation to be concluded thoroughly and transparently, and for appropriate action to follow where breaches are established”, adding: “The burden is now on NRW and the operator to rebuild the confidence of local communities, and that will be achieved through actions, not words.”

What the operator says

RML, part of the Dauson Environmental Group since March 2022, says it closed the site temporarily in May 2024 for engineering works and reopened in January 2025. The company says it has spent more than £10m on the site since the closure.

It says that since reopening “no confirmed off-site odour” has been linked to the landfill during routine regulatory inspections, and points to a July 2024 NRW compliance statement in support.

That sits awkwardly beside the regulator’s own count. Figures NRW gave the Pembrokeshire Herald show 211 odour complaints about the site between January and September this year, and the decision document records noise complaints received while the variation was being decided.

RML says the site is permitted to take 250,000 tonnes of waste a year, operates from 7am to 5pm five days a week, and takes waste from along the M4 corridor including Pembrokeshire. It expects the landfill to run for another 10 to 15 years.

The company says it has paid for AQMesh air quality monitors around the site since August 2024, funds the council’s independent monitoring and runs a community fund.

The decision comes weeks after NRW lifted its suspension on the AMG Resources site in Llanelli, blamed for the summer’s fly plague. Councillors there have since launched a petition to move or shut that site.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

LLANELLI: Petition launched to move or shut the site blamed for summer’s fly plague
Glanymor councillors want the AMG Resources site reviewed, relocated or closed.

LLANELLI: Waste ban lifted as watchdog says AMG site no longer fuelling fly swarms
NRW withdrew its suspension notice but kept an enforcement notice in place.

Bridgend man sentenced for illegal waste operations and ordered to repay £322,500
Three illegal waste sites across Wales and a Proceeds of Crime order.

More Pembrokeshire news from Swansea Bay News
Everything we cover across the county.

PWLL: The sea wrecked the council’s fishing lakes. Now they’re a nature reserve

Carmarthenshire Council dug the lakes at Pwll for anglers. The sea had other ideas.

Salt water got in, the lakes turned brackish, and the coarse fishery didn’t last.

Twenty-five years on, the lagoon the sea left behind, Ffynnon Helyg, has been given the go-ahead to become a Local Nature Reserve.

Cllr Hazel Evans, the council’s deputy leader, signed it off on 1 September. It covers about 10 hectares of council land on the edge of the village.

How the sea turned the Pwll fishing lakes into a saline lagoon

The lakes were dug around the turn of the millennium as part of the Millennium Coastal Park.

Then the sea found its way in. Left to itself, the site has grown into a brackish lagoon ringed with reeds, with drowned trees, a gravel island, and patches of the same saltmarsh plants that grow at Pembrey Saltings.

Put aerial photos from the 1990s next to ones from 2023 and the change is plain to see, the council says.

Birdwatchers already have a floating nesting raft to look out on and two hides to watch from.

There’s village history here too. An old saltmarsh pool, long since gone, was once used for ice skating, according to the council, and it was that pool that gave Pwll, the Welsh word for “pool”, its name.

A Llanelli naturalist saw it coming in 2001

Not everyone would have been surprised. Back in 2001, as the work was being finished, local naturalist Ian K Morgan warned that the new lake might get the odd tidal incursion, which could leave the water somewhat brackish.

That, he wrote in a survey for the Llanelli Naturalists Bulletin, would shape what moved in, “and the fishing!” Even then, up to about 15 cormorants were roosting on the narrow spit, and herons were regulars.

Ffynnon Helyg is now one of Wales’s rare saline lagoons

Wales has very few saline lagoons. A survey the council commissioned last year rates Ffynnon Helyg as an important addition to them.

Not bad for somewhere artificial and less than 25 years old. The survey found it has already picked up the kind of wildlife you would expect in a natural lagoon.

The council says some of the species living there matter “internationally”. It hasn’t said which ones.

What the new nature reserve means for walkers at Pwll

Walkers and birdwatchers can keep using it. The council says the new status is about protecting the wildlife while locals keep enjoying the site, and officers said it would not stand in the way of future improvements.

Natural Resources Wales has signed off the plan, and a public notice will follow once the formal declaration is made.

Ffynnon Helyg is not the old Pwll ash lagoon next door

Don’t mix it up with the Pwll Ash Lagoon just to the west. That was the power station’s old fuel-ash settling pond, and it has a reputation of its own among naturalists for rare plants.

Across the Loughor, Swansea Council is preparing to declare 14 Local Nature Reserves of its own by next March.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

NATURE RESERVES: The 14 Swansea green spaces about to get protected status, from Port Eynon to Pontarddulais
Swansea’s own round of Local Nature Reserves, due by March.

Carmarthenshire Council news
Our coverage of the county council.

Kit Peters

Kit Peters is a journalist and the editor of Swansea Bay News, covering Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire since 2020.

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1221772/ Wales drought: south-west Wales moves into recovery after rain #Britain #drought #GreatBritain #HosepipeBan #NaturalResourcesWales #RiverTowy #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales #WelshWater

DROUGHT: South-west Wales moves into recovery as the rain revives its rivers

The rain has done its job in south-west Wales.

Many of the region’s rivers have responded well to the recent downpours and are approaching normal flows for the time of year, Natural Resources Wales says. It has moved the area out of drought and into “recovery from drought” status.

The rest of Wales is not there yet. South-east Wales, north Wales and the upper Severn stay in drought, with rivers still low for the season and extra environmental monitoring carrying on.

Wales as a whole has had 78% of its expected September rainfall so far, according to NRW.

South-west Wales rivers bounce back after the driest July in 190 years

It is a turnaround from the height of summer, when the whole of Wales was declared in drought on 30 July. North Wales had gone into drought a week earlier.

Rivers across the south west were among the worst hit, with NRW listing the Cleddau in Pembrokeshire and the Cothi and Teifi in Carmarthenshire as exceptionally low.

In early August, extra water was released from Llyn Brianne to prop up the Towy.

The summer brought the driest July since records began 190 years ago, and the driest July and August together since 1976, according to NRW. The Met Office has provisionally named it the UK’s hottest summer on record.

No hosepipe ban anywhere in Welsh Water’s area

Households are not under any water restrictions. Welsh Water lifted its hosepipe ban on around 33,000 properties in Ceredigion, north Pembrokeshire and north Carmarthenshire on 4 September, and says there are now no restrictions anywhere in its area.

NRW warns ‘we cannot be complacent’ as Wales braces for more droughts

Rhian Thomas, sustainable water and nature manager at NRW, said the summer’s heatwaves caused “a rapid deterioration of the environment and widespread impacts to waters, soils, wildlife and habitats”.

She warned that the recovery would not be quick. “While it’s promising to see signs of recovery, we cannot be complacent,” she said. “We expect it will take time, and more sufficient rainfall into the autumn before the environment fully recovers.”

Wales has now reached drought conditions two summers running, and she said people should expect more of them. “As our climate continues to change, we expect to see a shift towards hotter, drier summers and wetter winters, with water less reliably available throughout the year.”

Welsh farmers still feeling the drought on crops and livestock feed

While parts of Wales stay in drought, NRW is still advising the Welsh Government’s Drought Liaison Group, which includes farming representatives.

NRW says the group is hearing about the drought’s continuing hit to crop production, and farmers having to give livestock extra feed.

It is also working with the Environment Agency on the cross-border Severn and Dee.

Anyone worried about drought damage to the environment, or about pollution, can report it to NRW’s incident hotline on 03000 65 3000.

People are being asked to keep using water wisely through the autumn and winter to help nature recover.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

DROUGHT: All of Wales now in drought as July heads for driest in 190 years
The July declaration that put the whole country under drought status.

RIVER TOWY: Extra water released from Llyn Brianne as drought leaves river running low
How the reservoir propped up the Towy through August.

Every drought story
The summer of 2026, from hosepipe bans to hillside fires.

https://www.edctips.com/590721/illegal-off-road-vehicles-to-be-seized-on-the-spot-as-police-warn-of-long-walk-home/ Illegal off-road vehicles to be seized on the spot as police warn of ‘long walk home’ #4x4Vehicles #AntiSocialBehaviour #BerwynRange #ErylLloyd #JosephHodgson #MichaelWilliams #NaturalResourcesWales #NorthWalesPolice #NRW #OffRoad #SocialMedia #SSSI

GOWERTON: Flood regulator says 216-home site ‘did not fully comply’ with flood guidance, then agrees flooding can be left out of the study

Natural Resources Wales has told planning inspectors that the site of 216 proposed homes at Fairwood Terrace “did not fully comply” with national flood guidance. It has also told them flooding can be left out of the developer’s environmental study.

The regulator’s letter, dated 15 September, is its reply to Persimmon’s request to limit that study to a single topic: the nutrients the homes would send towards the Burry Inlet.

It was sent two days before Swansea Council’s own reply, which asked for new wildlife surveys and said nothing on traffic.

What NRW told inspectors about flood risk at Fairwood Terrace

NRW says its advice on the original planning application was based on the Welsh Government’s flood guidance for planners as it stood at the time, the July 2004 version of the document known as TAN 15.

“The site did not fully comply with TAN15 (July 2004),” the letter says. “However, we accept that there will be no likely significant effects in relation to flood risk and it can be screened out of the ES.” The ES is the environmental statement Persimmon must write before its appeal can be decided.

The regulator takes the same view on contamination. It says there have been “no material changes” since a site investigation in March 2022, and that any risks “will be controlled through the relevant planning conditions”.

It also says the scheme would not affect the purposes of the Gower Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and that pollution during building work is covered by Persimmon’s construction management plan.

On nutrients, NRW agrees they must be studied and accepts the housebuilder’s proposed approach, provided the work “adequately addresses the requirements” of both the environmental statement and the separate habitats assessment.

A second official body questions the age of the wildlife surveys

On wildlife, NRW is less settled. It was satisfied with the ecological proposals in June 2024, but says the information “may now be considered old enough to require updating”.

“Updated ecology surveys would need to demonstrate that previously agreed mitigation was still valid,” it says. It leaves inspectors to decide whether that work sits inside the environmental statement or in a separate report.

That echoes the council’s ecology officer, who pointed out this week that most of the surveys date from 2015 to 2020, and asked for new bat, dormouse and otter surveys.

Campaigners’ 38-page case: Flood Zone 3, a missing spine road and the Trafle Mill bridge

Save Gowerton from Gridlock has filed a 38-page response with 28 appendices, asking inspectors to require nine further chapters, including transport, flood risk, air quality, ground contamination and GP capacity.

On flooding, the group says a significant part of the site now falls within River Flood Zone 3, the high-risk category, on the current Flood Map for Planning, and that NRW’s advice rests on a 22-year-old framework. It accepts the appeal may technically fall under transitional rules. NRW’s letter does not mention the current flood map.

On traffic, it says the spine road that Swansea’s development plan treats as essential to the wider Waunarlwydd and Fforestfach allocation is no longer proposed by any of the developers involved, leaving Victoria Road to take the traffic. It puts the number of homes in the planning pipeline across the corridor at 3,196.

It also wants a standalone risk assessment for the Trafle Mill railway bridge, saying April’s strike was the 35th on record and that Persimmon’s proposed pedestrian crossing would sit where debris fell. We reported that strike, and another on 7 August, when a lorry’s roof was torn open and trains were halted.

The group’s submission also points to PFOS, a so-called forever chemical, which it says NRW has recorded in the Afon Llan beside the site, downstream of the former 3M factory in Gorseinon.

Carl Jones, speaking for the group, said: “We are simply asking that the Inspectorate exercises its statutory powers to ensure the developer’s final Environmental Statement reflects the interconnected realities of our local highway capacity, drainage systems, and public health parameters, rather than an incomplete baseline.”

Inspectors can only publish a non-binding view on what the study should cover. We have not yet seen the replies from Dŵr Cymru, Network Rail, Transport for Wales or the Welsh Government’s transport directorate.

The Fairwood Terrace story so far

GOWERTON: Bats, dormice and otters put back on the table for 216 homes
The council’s reply: new wildlife surveys wanted, and silence from highways.

GOWERTON: Developer wants traffic concerns omitted from environmental study
The request all of these replies respond to, and the ten topics Persimmon wants dropped.

GOWERTON: Lorry roof peeled open as notorious Trafle Mill bridge claims another victim
August’s strike at the bridge that guards Fairwood Terrace.

Every Fairwood Terrace story
The refusal, the appeal and the environmental ruling, in order.

https://www.edctips.com/587179/off-roaders-caught-damaging-protected-site-after-posting-videos-to-tiktok/ Off-roaders caught damaging protected site after posting videos to TikTok #4x4Vehicles #BlanketBog #CriminalDamage #JohnRobinson #JosephHodgson #MichaelWilliams #NaturalResourcesWales #NRW #OffRoading #ProtectedArea #SSSI #TikTok

My family have fished this river for 300 years – now pollution has killed all the fish

It is a centuries-old tradition in Wales, but coracle fishers on a major river have said pollution has…
#NewsBeep #News #Environment #AndrewDavies #CA #Canada #CarmarthenRussellSparks #coracles #KeithElias #NaturalResourcesWales #NRW #RiverTywi #Science #WilliamElias
https://www.newsbeep.com/ca/865703/

https://www.europesays.com/videos/69815/ Drought status declared for all of Wales as July set to be driest ever | ITV Cymru Wales #BreedonGroupQuarry #CommonwealthGames #Drought #GwaelodYGarth #HOMELESSNESS #itv #ItvNews #ITVNewsInFull #MiaHarrisJones #Mumbles #NationalYouthTheatreOfWales #NaturalResourcesWales #Verdi's

LLANELLI: Waste site banned from taking some waste tonight as fly crisis escalates

The Llanelli waste site blamed for the town’s fly infestation has been ordered to stop accepting some types of waste from 6pm tonight.

Natural Resources Wales issued a partial suspension notice on AMG Resources Limited after a further inspection on Thursday, escalating its response to the swarms plaguing the Glanymor area.

The notice bans certain waste types from the site from 6pm on Friday 24 July. NRW has not specified which types.

The operator must also clear and clean areas of the site and complete a list of other actions identified by NRW officers.

The regulator said AMG Resources was cooperating.

AMG Resources has declined to comment on the enforcement action. Earlier in the investigation the company said it was not the source of the flies and that it had pest control measures in place.

It is a significant escalation. Three days ago NRW served an enforcement notice giving the operator 21 days to bring waste management back into line with its permit — the shortest period the law allows.

NRW said it understood “how distressing and frustrating” the increase in fly activity had been for residents and businesses in the Glanymor area.

The statement also pushes back at the criticism that has built around the regulator this week. Two Glanymor councillors called for NRW’s chair to resign, citing what they called a significant reversal in its position.

Cllr Sean Rees and Cllr Louvain Roberts pointed to a BBC Wales report on 7 July, in which NRW said it did not think the AMG plant was “currently contributing to the reported increase in flies”. Its own investigation later identified the site as a source.

NRW now disputes that account. “NRW has not taken part in any interview with the BBC on this issue to date,” the statement says.

It adds that any suggestion it concluded AMG Resources was not a potential source “does not reflect the complexity of the investigation or the approach taken by NRW officers throughout the incident”.

“At no point during our investigation was this operator ruled out as a potential source,” the statement says, adding that NRW had taken regulatory decisions “based on the evidence available at each stage”.

The two accounts are not necessarily at odds. NRW’s denial refers specifically to an interview, while its earlier comment to the BBC was a written statement — and it said the plant was not “currently” contributing to the rise in flies, rather than that it had been ruled out altogether.

Officers had carried out inspections, monitoring and other evidence-gathering from the outset to assess a number of possible sources, it said, working alongside Carmarthenshire Council.

NRW said it would keep monitoring the site closely and assess compliance with both notices, and would consider further regulatory action if needed.

Looking further ahead, NRW said it would continue “enhanced monitoring” of the site, and that the operator would be required to review and improve its current protection measures to minimise the risk of a repeat.

Flies have swarmed homes, pubs and shops across Seaside, Morfa and Tyisha since early July, with shops selling out of spray and more than 800 people joining a Facebook group tracking the infestation.

Residents say the problem is not new. Fly infestations in the area were first reported in 2018, and locals say pest control measures have never stopped the swarms returning in hot weather.

Residents can report fly activity to Carmarthenshire Council on 01267 234567 or [email protected].

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

LLANELLI: NRW defends fly crisis handling — but doesn’t address call for chair to quit
The regulator’s response to the resignation demand earlier this week.

LLANELLI: Councillors call for NRW chair to quit over fly crisis
Glanymor’s councillors demand accountability over the handling of the infestation.

LLANELLI: Flies traced to AMG Resources site as regulator orders 21-day clean-up
How the investigation identified the source.

LLANELLI: ‘Like a plague’ — flies swarm Seaside homes and pubs
How the infestation first took hold across the Seaside area.

CARMARTHEN: NRW investigating suspected pollution of the River Towy after dead fish report

Natural Resources Wales is investigating suspected pollution of the River Towy at Carmarthen, after reports from members of the public — including a report of one dead fish.

Concerns had been circulating on social media in recent days, and Natural Resources Wales says the reports it received have been assessed and form part of ongoing investigations.

Officers attended the river on Saturday to carry out monitoring and assessment, and returned on Monday to monitor the area again.

“Investigations remain ongoing, and we will continue to assess all available evidence,” a spokesperson for the regulator said.

NRW acknowledged there had been “considerable speculation regarding a potential discharge from a particular site” — and said that speculation forms part of its investigation.

The regulator described the Tywi — the river’s Welsh name — as “one of Carmarthenshire’s most important natural assets”, supporting internationally significant wildlife, local communities and recreation.

The Towy is the longest river to flow entirely within Wales, and is renowned among anglers for its sewin — sea trout — fishery.

“We take all reports of pollution seriously,” the spokesperson said. “We work hard to investigate environmental offences and, where evidence supports it, we will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action.”

The regulator added that it currently has “a number of environmental enforcement investigations ongoing”, which it said reflects its commitment to holding polluters to account in Carmarthenshire.

Among them is the enforcement notice served on a waste site at Llanelli, confirmed as a source of the town’s fly infestation. NRW defended its handling of that investigation this week, after councillors called for its chair to resign.

NRW thanked those who had raised concerns, saying information provided by local communities was “invaluable” in identifying potential incidents quickly.

“Your reports help us respond quickly, and the sooner we know about something, the better,” the spokesperson added.

Anyone who spots suspected pollution is asked to report it through NRW’s online reporting form or its 24/7 incident line on 0300 065 3000 — with the regulator saying direct reports are quicker and more efficient than posts on social media.

Rivers across the region are under growing scrutiny. Last month the First Minister ordered an investigation into the River Tawe after sewage and sickness concerns were raised in the Senedd.

Welsh Water is also under investigation over sewage pollution of the River Kenfig, in a case the regulator there has described as unacceptable.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

LLANELLI: NRW defends fly crisis handling — but doesn’t address call for chair to quit
The regulator under pressure over its response to the Seaside fly infestation.

RIVER TAWE: First Minister orders investigation after sewage and sickness concerns raised in Senedd
Concerns over another of the region’s rivers reach the top of government.

KENFIG: ‘Unacceptable’ — Welsh Water under investigation over sewage pollution of River Kenfig
The sewage case on the River Kenfig.

GOWER: Protesters to rally at Caswell Bay — as new data reveals Welsh Water’s worst decade for pollution
The wider picture on water pollution across the region.

LLANELLI: NRW defends fly crisis handling — but doesn’t address call for chair to quit

Natural Resources Wales has defended its handling of the Llanelli fly infestation, after two county councillors called for its chair to resign.

But the regulator’s statement does not directly address the resignation demand — or the councillors’ call for compensation for affected residents and businesses.

Glanymor ward councillors Sean Rees and Louvain Roberts called for the chair of NRW to quit this week over what they described as a “significant reversal” in the regulator’s position.

The independent councillors said Natural Resources Wales told BBC Wales on 7 July that it did not believe the AMG Resources site was the source of the infestation. The regulator’s own investigation later confirmed the site as a source — and an enforcement notice was issued.

In its response, NRW said it understood how “distressing and frustrating” the situation had been for those affected in the Seaside area.

A spokesperson for Natural Resources Wales said investigations into the source of a fly infestation were “detailed, evidence-led processes” involving inspections, monitoring, sampling and the exclusion of other potential sources.

“At the outset of this investigation, there was no clear evidence identifying a single source of the increased fly activity,” the spokesperson said.

The regulator said the investigation had been carried out jointly with Carmarthenshire Council to establish the source and inform any regulatory action.

“Our investigations have now substantiated that a source of the increased fly activity is AMG Resources Limited, a site permitted and regulated by NRW,” the statement continued.

The spokesperson said the enforcement notice requires the operator to address issues with the management of waste on site, and to bring operations back into compliance with its permit conditions within 21 days — which NRW said is the minimum period that can be specified under the relevant legislation.

Defending its earlier position, the regulator said: “Throughout this incident, NRW has worked on the basis of the evidence available at the time.”

“This has been a complex and evolving situation, with our understanding developing as investigations progressed and further evidence was gathered. The enforcement action taken reflects the findings of those investigations.”

NRW said it would continue to monitor the site “closely and regularly” to assess the operator’s compliance with the notice.

The statement makes no mention of the position of the regulator’s chair, and does not respond to the councillors’ call for compensation for residents and businesses who suffered financial loss.

Flies had swarmed homes, pubs and businesses in the Seaside area for weeks, with shops selling out of fly spray as the infestation took hold. An earlier stage of the investigation had cleared two sites without finding the source.

Cllr Rees and Cllr Roberts have pledged to continue pressing NRW, AMG Resources and the Welsh Government until the infestation is resolved and, in their words, “those responsible are held to account”.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

LLANELLI: Councillors call for NRW chair to quit over fly crisis
Glanymor ward councillors say the regulator’s reversal raises serious questions about its leadership.

LLANELLI: Flies traced to AMG Resources site as regulator orders 21-day clean-up
NRW’s investigation confirmed the permitted waste site as a source of the infestation.

LLANELLI: Two sites cleared in Seaside fly investigation — but source still not found
An earlier stage of the joint investigation ruled out two potential sources.

LLANELLI: ‘Like a plague’ — flies swarm Seaside homes and pubs as shops sell out of spray and the council investigates
How the infestation took hold across the Seaside area.

LLANELLI: Councillors call for NRW chair to quit over fly crisis

Two Llanelli councillors have called for the chair of Natural Resources Wales to resign over the regulator’s handling of the town’s fly infestation.

Sean Rees and Louvain Roberts are the independent county councillors for Glanymor — the Llanelli ward covering the Seaside area at the centre of the infestation. They made the call after NRW confirmed the AMG Resources site as the source and ordered a 21-day clean-up.

The pair point to what they describe as a “significant reversal” by the regulator: they say NRW told BBC Wales on 7 July that it did not believe the AMG site was the source — before its own investigations later identified the site as responsible.

In a joint statement, the councillors said: “Llanelli residents have endured weeks of unacceptable disruption and awful conditions, with homes, businesses, schools and community facilities all affected by another fly infestation.

“This crisis has affected everyone in our community — from our young people to our elderly residents, from working people to disabled residents and those living with other medical conditions who continue to need support.

“Yet, in an interview with BBC Wales on 7 July, Natural Resources Wales said it did not believe the AMG Resources site was the source of the infestation, while the company itself maintained that it had appropriate pest control measures in place. NRW has now confirmed that its own investigations identified the AMG Resources site as the source of the recent increase in fly activity. Such a significant reversal raises serious questions about NRW’s handling of the incident and public confidence in its leadership.

“When an organisation entrusted with protecting our environment gets something as significant as this so badly wrong, accountability must start at the top. We are therefore calling on the Chair of Natural Resources Wales to resign.”

The councillors also said residents and businesses who have suffered financial loss “through no fault of their own” should receive compensation, adding: “Our community deserves answers, accountability and the assurance that this can never happen again.”

The councillors did not name the chair in their statement. The role has been held since November by Neil Sachdev, who was appointed by the Welsh Government to succeed Sir David Henshaw — meaning the resignation call lands less than nine months into his term.

It would not be the first time an NRW chair has stood down under pressure: Diane McCrea resigned in 2018 after the regulator’s accounts were qualified by auditors for a third time.

NRW served AMG Resources with a notice last week requiring action within 21 days, after weeks in which swarms of flies plagued homes, pubs and businesses in the Seaside area — a problem residents say has returned every summer since it was first reported in 2018. Two other sites were investigated and cleared before the source was found.

The councillors paid tribute to the “dedication and hard work” of officers, schools, community organisations and residents throughout the incident — but stressed that responsibility for regulating the permitted site “rests with Natural Resources Wales”.

They pledged to continue pressing AMG Resources, NRW and the Welsh Government “until the infestation is fully resolved, those responsible are held to account, and effective safeguards are put in place to prevent any recurrence”.

Natural Resources Wales has been approached for comment.

Correction: an earlier version of this article included aerial images that incorrectly showed a site in Bynea. They were removed on 22 July 2026 and replaced with images of the AMG Resources site.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Flies traced to AMG Resources site as regulator orders 21-day clean-up
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Two sites cleared in Seaside fly investigation — but source still not found
The hunt for the source as it stood in mid-July.

‘Like a plague’ — flies swarm Seaside homes and pubs as shops sell out of spray
How residents and businesses described weeks living with the swarms.

More from Llanelli →

LLANELLI: Flies traced to AMG Resources site as regulator orders 21-day clean-up

The fly infestation that has plagued south Llanelli for weeks has been traced to the AMG Resources site — with Natural Resources Wales ordering the operator to bring the problem under control within 21 days.

Natural Resources Wales investigations into the surge in fly activity in the Glan-y-mor ward identified the AMG Resources Ltd site as a source.

The site is permitted and regulated by Natural Resources Wales.

NRW issued an enforcement notice requiring the operator to address issues relating to the management of waste on site, and to bring operations back into compliance with its permit conditions.

The operator has been given 21 days to implement the required measures, with the regulator pressing for the work to happen sooner.

The confirmation ends weeks of uncertainty for residents, after swarms of flies hit homes, pubs and shops across Seaside, Morfa and Tyisha — with shops selling out of fly spray and more than 800 people joining a Facebook group tracking the infestation.

It follows a process of elimination: earlier this month the council ruled out the Trostre recycling centre and Dŵr Cymru’s Northumberland Pumping Station, with the AMG Resources facility among the sites still being examined.

Carmarthenshire Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for public health, Cllr Aled Vaughan Owen, said the county council was continuing to work with NRW and partners following the confirmation and the enforcement notice.

“The county council’s public health team has invested significant resources to help tackle the issue,” he said, “including inspections of potential source locations, monitoring activity, engagement with local communities, providing direct support where necessary, and implementing mitigation measures, including the deployment of strategically located fly traps in the affected area.”

Cllr Vaughan Owen added: “We will continue to review the situation carefully and work with partner organisations to take any appropriate action to protect residents and minimise nuisance.”

Residents experiencing problems with fly activity are being encouraged to report them to the council’s contact centre on 01267 234567 or by email to [email protected] — reports help officers monitor the situation and target investigations.

The council said it had asked NRW for written confirmation of the longer-term measures it expects the operator to put in place to prevent a recurrence.

That includes changes to the site’s pest management plan, seasonal requirements, and “operational triggers” — rules that would kick in during warmer months, when the risk of fly activity rises.

Llanelli Town Council leader Sean Rees — who also represents the Glan-y-mor ward on Carmarthenshire Council — said there were “serious questions for NRW to now answer”, and has since joined a call for the NRW chair to resign.

The advice for households battling the nuisance also stands: fly screens or closed windows, food waste stored securely, and traps or papers indoors.

Update — 22 July 2026: this article was amended to make clear that confirmation of the source came from Natural Resources Wales, and to include an updated statement from Carmarthenshire County Council.

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Councillors call for NRW chair to quit over fly crisis
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FLY-TIPPING: Morriston man must pay more than £1,400 after waste strewn along two miles of Dulais Valley road

A Morriston man must pay more than £1,400 after fly-tipped waste was found strewn along two miles of a Dulais Valley road.

The waste was discovered scattered along the country road between Crynant and Cilfrew, and was first reported on 6 November last year.

It was a mixed load: vehicle parts, components coated in oil, commercial waste, household items and fluorescent lighting tubes.

The oily vehicle parts made it a nastier find than a typical dumped load — the sort of waste that can contaminate land and watercourses rather than just blight the roadside.

In an unusual turn, the man responsible came forward himself. After initial enquiries began, 38-year-old Roger Townsend contacted investigators saying he wanted to discuss waste he had deposited in Crynant.

Townsend admitted illegally dumping the waste, and also revealed he had no waste carrier licence — the registration legally required to transport waste.

A check of Natural Resources Wales records confirmed no waste exemptions applied along the Crynant–Cilfrew road.

Townsend, of Lon Gwendraeth in Morriston, pleaded guilty at Swansea Magistrates’ Court on 9 July to illegally depositing waste, an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

He was ordered to pay £946.75 in costs, £202.21 in compensation, a £200 fine and an £80 victim surcharge — £1,428.96 in all.

Neath Port Talbot Council’s cabinet member for streetscene, Cllr Scott Jones, said the type of waste seen in the case, including vehicle parts and oil-contaminated materials, was “very damaging to the environment and will not be tolerated”.

He thanked the council’s enforcement team for their investigative work, and said the council would continue to pursue offenders — urging residents to dispose of waste responsibly and to check that anyone removing waste on their behalf is properly licensed to do so.

The case is the latest in a steady run of fly-tipping prosecutions across Neath Port Talbot, where the council has been crushing vehicles linked to illegal dumping as part of an intensifying crackdown.

Recent cases include a man ordered to pay more than £5,000 after being caught by a hidden camera in Neath, and a waste boss stripped of his carrier licence following a fly-tipping conviction.

Householders are legally responsible for their own waste even when someone else takes it away — anyone paying for waste removal can check a carrier is licensed on the Natural Resources Wales public register.

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North Wales ‘one step from drought’ as rivers dry out and wildfires rage

North Wales is under increasing strain from this summer’s hot and dry conditions, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has…
#EuropeSays #Britain #Europe #EU #UK #NaturalResourcesWales #NorthWalesWeather #UnitedKingdom
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https://www.europesays.com/britain/84643/ North Wales ‘one step from drought’ as rivers dry out and wildfires rage #NaturalResourcesWales #NorthWalesWeather #UK #UnitedKingdom

HOSEPIPE BAN: Welsh Water warns restrictions likely this weekend for 33,000 homes — including parts of north Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire

Around 33,000 homes — including communities in north Carmarthenshire and north Pembrokeshire — could be under a hosepipe ban by this weekend, Welsh Water has warned.

The company said today it is “likely” to introduce temporary restrictions across Mid and South Ceredigion and neighbouring areas unless demand for drinking water falls significantly in the coming days.

The affected area stretches from Llanon, Llangwyryfon and Cwm Ystwyth in Ceredigion, across to Crymych, Llanfyrnach and Nevern in north Pembrokeshire, and into parts of north Carmarthenshire including Farmers, Pencader and Hermon.

A final decision will be made later this week.

A billion litres a day

The company says the prolonged hot, dry weather has pushed demand to unprecedented levels — around one billion litres of drinking water going into supply every day over the past week, roughly 20% more than normal for the time of year.

Unlike the short peaks of a normal warm spell, it says demand has stayed exceptionally high all day and into the evening for weeks — and the start of the school holidays is expected to bring more visitors and more pressure.

Unusually, the problem is not the reservoirs. Welsh Water says water resources and reservoir levels remain healthy — the challenge is treating, storing and moving enough drinking water through the network fast enough to keep up.

That marks a difference from the last hosepipe ban to hit the area, in August 2022, when reservoir levels at Llys y Frân fell to drought levels after the driest year since 1976.

Treatment works are running at maximum capacity, the company says, with its entire tanker fleet deployed, extra water moved around the network and crews working around the clock on leaks.

Despite that, local service reservoirs — the underground tanks that hold treated water — are being drained faster than they can be refilled at the busiest times of day.

‘Not a decision we want to take’

Kit Wilson, Welsh Water’s chief customer officer, said: “We are now reaching the point where, unless demand reduces significantly over the next few days, we are likely to have no option but to introduce temporary hosepipe restrictions this weekend.”

“This is not a decision we want to take, but we must act in the interests of all our customers. There is still an opportunity to avoid these restrictions if everyone plays their part by reducing non-essential water use now.”

Any ban would be a short-term emergency measure, the company says — limited to the affected area and lifted as soon as conditions improve and local storage recovers.

Its advice for avoiding one: put the hosepipe away, delay washing cars, patios and driveways, water gardens with a can, take shorter showers, turn taps off while brushing teeth, run washing machines and dishwashers only with full loads, and fix dripping taps.

The warning caps a week in which south Wales has topped the UK’s temperature charts — with the heat already keeping the coast’s rescue services busy.

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LLANELLI: Two sites cleared in Seaside fly investigation — but source still not found

Two sites have been ruled out in the investigation into the fly infestation that has plagued homes and businesses across south Llanelli — but the source still has not been found.

Carmarthenshire Council has issued a detailed update to residents in the Seaside and Morfa areas, where swarms of flies have hit homes, pubs and shops in recent weeks.

The council said inspections of the Trostre Household Waste Recycling Centre and Dŵr Cymru’s Northumberland Pumping Station found no evidence of significant fly activity, poor housekeeping or waste leakage likely to be behind the infestation.

Both sites have effectively been ruled out.

But the council said no definitive source had been identified, and that investigations were continuing.

Officers are still examining several possible sources across the area, including the AMG Resources facility and other sites, the council said.

It stressed it was taking an “evidence-led approach,” with samples of flies, larvae and pupae sent for analysis.

Natural Resources Wales is the environmental permitting authority for the AMG Resources site, and is responsible for regulating compliance with its permit conditions.

The council said it was sharing evidence with Natural Resources Wales, which has inspected the site and continues to monitor conditions.

The authority said it had set up a multi-service response, visiting affected households, monitoring fly activity, and carrying out extra drain cleansing — though it said there was no evidence the drains were contributing.

For residents struggling with the nuisance, the council suggested keeping doors and windows closed or fitting fly screens, storing food waste securely, clearing up pet waste promptly and using fly traps or papers.

It said it would consider requests for help with fly-control products case by case, particularly for vulnerable residents or those significantly affected.

On compensation, the council said it understood residents’ frustration, but that as the cause had not been established it could not comment on whether any claims might arise.

Residents are asked to keep reporting fly activity to the council’s contact centre on 01267 234567 or by email, giving their address, when the problem started and the level of activity.

The infestation has prompted more than 800 residents to join a Facebook group tracking the swarms across Seaside, Morfa and Tyisha.

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LLANELLI: ‘Like a plague’ — flies swarm Seaside homes and pubs as shops sell out of spray and the council investigates

People in the Seaside area of Llanelli say a fly infestation has become so severe they cannot cook or eat in their own homes — and are keeping doors and windows shut through the hottest weeks of the year.

Shops around the affected streets have sold out of fly spray, and more than 800 residents have joined a Facebook group tracking the problem across the Seaside, Morfa and Tyisha areas of the town.

The infestation was first reported in 2018, and residents say it returns every summer in hot weather — worse than ever during this year’s heatwaves.

Many believe the flies are linked to a nearby metal recycling plant — but Natural Resources Wales has said it does not believe the AMG Resources site is “currently contributing” to the reported increase.

The company says it is not the source of the flies, and has pest control measures in place.

Carmarthenshire Council and the environmental watchdog are both investigating, with the council saying the issue is being treated as a priority.

Gill Phillips, 69, told BBC Wales she has had to give up cooking and baking altogether: “As soon as I get any food out the flies swarm.”

The grandmother-of-nine, who lives in one of the worst-affected streets, kept her doors and windows closed through this summer’s heatwaves despite recovering from poor health — and has spent £30 on an electronic fly trap, plus nets for her doors, to keep her home liveable.

She said many people no longer wanted to live in the area, and questioned why residents should have to pay for their own defences against the swarms.

At the Seaside Sports and Social Club, eight two-foot sticky fly traps filled up in just 24 hours — and regulars have taken to covering their coffee cups with beer mats between sips.

Around the corner at The New Cornish Arms, publican Garry Rees-Andrews has a member of staff on “fly-watch” every shift, starts work at 7am to disinfect floors and surfaces, and has bought an air conditioning unit because the kitchen doors can no longer be opened. “It’s getting to biblical proportions now, it’s like a plague,” he said.

He said his frustration was that the problem returns year after year — and that businesses paying rates and council tax expected a service in return.

Adam Holding, who runs The Platform café and cookery school in the town, has fly traps around the building — and said keeping the doors closed and nets up meant the café often didn’t look open at all.

Some residents have suggested the area’s drains could be the source, claiming they are not cleaned as regularly as they once were. The council says there is no evidence to support that, and that its highway drain cleaning programme remains on schedule.

Cllr Aled Vaughan Owen of Carmarthenshire Council said the authority understood the concerns. “We understand the concerns raised by residents and businesses in parts of Llanelli regarding increased fly activity and appreciate the frustration this is causing,” he said.

He encouraged anyone affected to report it to the council, as reports help officers monitor the situation and target investigations. “Investigations remain ongoing and it is important that any conclusions are evidence-based,” he added. “However, residents can be reassured that significant officer time and resources are being devoted to this issue.”

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WALES NATURE WEEK: Bug hunts, dune safaris and a green gathering — nine days of nature on your doorstep from tomorrow

From bug hunts at the Gnoll to den building at Pembrey, Wales Nature Week returns tomorrow — with a packed programme of free and family-friendly events across the region.

The week runs from Saturday 4 to Sunday 12 July, inviting people of all ages to explore the nature found in everyday places.

This year’s theme, In Your Neighbourhood, celebrates the wildlife, green spaces and everyday moments of nature that surround us — from city parks, schoolyards and gardens to coastlines, woodlands and community spaces.

Saturday 4 July

The week opens with Nature Unearthed at Gnoll Country Park in Neath — a free day of hands-on nature activities, bug hunts and guided walks through the park’s habitats, running from 11am to 4pm.

The event is designed to help people uncover the wildlife living right on their doorstep.

Wednesday 8 July

Midweek, botanist David Barden and SEWBReC lead Dune Plants at Kenfig — a free field session on the dunes of Kenfig National Nature Reserve near Bridgend, from 10am to 4pm, teaching visitors to identify the plant life of one of Wales’ most distinctive habitats.

Saturday 11 July

The week’s busiest day brings four events across the region.

In Pontardawe, The Green Gathering (£5 entry, 11am–4pm) celebrates nature, sustainability and community, with activities, displays and local environmental organisations.

In Swansea, entomologist Liam Olds leads Biodiversity Beneath Your Feet: Insects of Penlan — guided walks through Penlan Racecourse, an urban wildlife haven overlooking Swansea Bay, with the chance to spot bees, butterflies and beetles. Sessions run from 11am, and booking is required.

Families in Gorseinon can Discover the Mini Beasts of Parc Melin Mynach (free, 10am–12pm), hunting for insects, spiders, bees and butterflies in an often-overlooked nature-rich corner of the city.

And at Pembrey Country Park in Carmarthenshire, Gone Wild (free, though parking charges apply, 11am–4pm) offers scavenger hunts, den building and the chance to meet the organisations helping nature thrive in the county.

And beyond the week

The following weekend, 18–19 July, the National Botanic Garden of Wales at Llanarthne hosts its BioBlitz Festival — two days of citizen science across the garden and Waun Las National Nature Reserve, with visitors helping to record as many species as possible. Entry is free with garden admission.

A full programme of Wales Nature Week events can be found on the Wales Nature Week website.

Prys Davies, executive director for strategy, policy and evidence at Natural Resources Wales, said the week was “a fantastic opportunity for people of all ages to get involved and make a difference for nature”.

“We’re encouraging everyone to take a closer look at the nature around them and discover just how much wildlife can be found close to home,” he said. “Whether that’s creating space for wildlife in your garden, getting involved in a local project or supporting conservation work, every action counts and adds up to real change.”

He added: “We’re facing a nature and climate emergency, and the need to act has never been clearer. Healthy ecosystems underpin our food, our health and our economy, and they need our support to thrive. Wales Nature Week is a chance for all of us to play our part.”

Whether it’s joining a local event, visiting a favourite green space or simply pausing to notice the wildlife nearby, organisers say everyone is encouraged to get involved.

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GOWER: Volunteers find sewage at beaches after heavy rain — but most winter water rated good or excellent

Volunteers testing the sea at Gower’s beaches through the winter have found most of the water in good condition — but detected sewage at several spots after heavy rain.

The bathing volunteers carried out 77 tests between January and May at five of the peninsula’s beaches: Pwllddu, Foxhole, Knab Rock, Oxwich and Caswell Bay.

Of those, 90% were rated good or excellent. But eight samples detected sewage — the presence of enterococci, coliform and E. coli bacteria.

Half of those eight were recorded at Knab Rock in Mumbles, following heavy rain in January and February. Two were found at Oxwich, on 3 February and 21 April, and two at Foxhole, on 19 January and 3 March.

The results have been passed to Welsh Water and Natural Resources Wales for their own analysis.

It is the second winter the volunteers have stepped in to test the water, through a project run by the Gower Society and Nature Days scientist Dawn Thomas.

The scheme began in 2024, started by Gower MP Tonia Antoniazzi alongside the two organisations, to fill a gap in the data.

During the summer, Natural Resources Wales regularly tests the water at Gower’s designated bathing beaches. But its budget does not stretch to cover the testing from October to May.

This winter, the volunteer programme could only begin in January because of a lack of funding.

Swansea-based manufacturer TIMET UK then stepped in with a donation to cover the cost of test kits, allowing the monitoring to continue into early May.

Ian Davies, manufacturing manager at TIMET UK, said the firm was “really happy to help such a valuable project in this area.”

Sarah Samuel, of the Gower Society, said the tests were helping to identify and tackle pollution early, so the beaches remained safe for wildlife and visitors.

Dawn Thomas, who has overseen the project, said the data was essential for making sure the water was safe and clean throughout the year.

She said she was delighted 90% of the results were good, but wanted to see that figure reach 100% by next winter.

The testing comes amid sustained pressure on Welsh Water over sewage. Last month the regulator confirmed a £44.7m enforcement package forcing the company to fix its sewage failures, while campaigners have rallied at Caswell Bay over what new data called the company’s worst decade for pollution.

Tonia Antoniazzi praised the volunteers behind the project, saying the state of the seawater was a major concern for her and hundreds of her constituents.

She said she was impressed by the people who had given up their free time “to be part of the solution.”

The full set of results is available on the project’s data page.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Gower volunteers’ success in winter-water testing to fight sewage in the sea
The first winter testing programme, last year.

Residents say they’re ‘Pooped Off’ with Gower sewage spills
The protest over spills from Welsh Water’s Bishopston Treatment Works.

Gower protesters rally at Caswell Bay as data reveals Welsh Water’s worst decade for pollution
Part of a national day of action against sewage.

NEATH PORT TALBOT: Waste boss stripped of licence after fly-tipping conviction

A waste operator has been stripped of his licence after a fly-tipping conviction, the environmental regulator has said.

Natural Resources Wales revoked the waste carrier licence held by Arron Dixon following his conviction and a separate investigation into his waste activities.

Dixon was convicted at Swansea Magistrates’ Court on 2 April for a fly-tipping offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, in a case brought by Neath Port Talbot Council.

After the conviction, NRW carried out its own investigation to decide whether he was still suitable to hold a licence.

He was invited to an interview under caution and given the chance to explain his actions and show he remained fit to hold the licence.

NRW said its investigation found Dixon had continued to advertise and carry out waste work after his waste carrier registration expired in October 2024.

Investigators also found he had been operating without a valid licence and could not provide the waste transfer notes needed to show he was meeting his legal duties.

The regulator concluded he was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence, and revoked it with immediate effect.

It means Dixon can no longer legally collect, transport or dispose of controlled waste, and must stop all waste-related business at once.

He cannot apply for a new licence until at least 12 months after the date of his conviction.

Ed Davies, a waste team leader at NRW, said the licences existed to protect the environment, communities and legitimate businesses.

He said the investigation had identified a number of serious compliance failures, including operating without valid registration and failing to provide the right documentation.

“We will not tolerate those who seek to profit by breaking the law,” he said.

The action follows a wider enforcement push against illegal dumping, with neighbouring authorities cracking down hard — Neath Port Talbot Council recently crushed vehicles linked to fly-tipping as part of its campaign.

NRW used the case to remind householders and businesses that they too have a legal responsibility to make sure their waste is handled properly.

Anyone paying for waste to be taken away should check the person or company collecting it is a registered waste carrier — something a Neath man learned the hard way when he was fined for handing his rubbish to an unlicensed collector.

People can check the public register on the NRW website, or report suspected illegal waste activity to its incident hotline on 0300 065 3000.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Neath Port Talbot crushes fly-tippers’ vehicles as crackdown intensifies
The council’s escalating campaign against illegal dumping.

Warning over illegal waste collectors
NRW’s advice on avoiding rogue operators advertising online.

KENFIG: ‘Unacceptable’ — Welsh Water under investigation over sewage pollution of River Kenfig

Welsh Water is under formal investigation over a string of pollution incidents that have caused “significant” damage to the River Kenfig — including to the Kenfig National Nature Reserve.

Natural Resources Wales says the environmental impact of repeated sewage discharges into the river is “unacceptable” — and has told the water company it expects a clean-up of affected stretches along with a long-term plan to restore the river’s biodiversity.

The problems centre on the Marlas Sewage Pumping Station near North Cornelly and its 9km rising main, which carries sewage to the Afan Wastewater Treatment Works in Port Talbot.

The pipeline has suffered recurring bursts since August 2023, leading to multiple pollution incidents — before the situation escalated in February this year with a continuous discharge from the pumping station itself.

That forced Welsh Water — Dŵr Cymru — to commission a temporary sewage treatment plant at the site, while the discharges continued to flow into the river, causing pollution, odour and harm to fish and other wildlife downstream.

The continuous discharge finally stopped on Tuesday, after the company completed a temporary overland pipeline to bypass the failing main.

But NRW warns there “remains the potential for additional incidents” until the infrastructure problems are fully fixed — and says it is building a case that could lead to enforcement action.

Huwel Manley, NRW’s head of operations for south west Wales, said: “This issue is extremely serious. The scale of environmental impact on the River Kenfig is unacceptable, and we understand the concern and frustration this has caused for local communities, as well as the damage to wildlife and the wider environment, including Kenfig National Nature Reserve.

“We are undertaking detailed investigations into these incidents and will take the appropriate action in line with our Enforcement and Sanctions Policy.”

He said the regulator could not share detailed information during the formal investigation, as disclosure “could risk prejudicing any enforcement outcome”.

“But we want people to be assured that we are closely monitoring the situation as we build our case,” he said. “Our officers are attending the site regularly to undertake important monitoring work, to continually assess the environmental impact and are ensuring DCWW delivers the necessary improvements.

“We have informed DCWW that we expect them to undertake remedial work to clean up affected stretches of the River Kenfig along with a plan for longer term enhancement of the river and its biodiversity.”

The Marlas station operates under a discharge permit allowing storm sewage or emergency discharges only within specific criteria — and NRW says its investigation is assessing suspected breaches of those permit conditions across each incident.

Welsh Water, which operates the site, is responsible for meeting the permit conditions and managing the impact of the discharges.

The investigation lands with Welsh Water already under intense scrutiny over its environmental record — just last week the company confirmed a £44.7m sewage improvement package, dismissed by critics as too little, too late.

Earlier this month, the First Minister ordered an investigation into the River Tawe after sewage and sickness concerns were raised in the Senedd.

And in May, new data revealed the company’s worst decade for pollution — prompting protesters to rally at Caswell Bay.

In response, Welsh Water said it is replacing 6km and renewing 3km of sewer main in the Kenfig and Port Talbot area at a cost of more than £13m, “following the escalated deterioration of the current main”.

A spokesperson said: “To minimise the impact this had on the environment, we installed a full wastewater treatment process at Marlas Sewage Pumping Station.

“This was done while 4.9km of temporary overland pipe was laid to link to the treatment works in Port Talbot. This has been operational since Monday and the spill to the Kenfig, which consisted of water treated at the temporary works, has ceased.”

The company said it was looking at “a river recovery plan for the Kenfig and the wider catchment” to improve biodiversity and restore water quality — with an aeration system remaining in the river around the clock to increase oxygen levels and support fish and wildlife.

“We are continuing to work with NRW, who are being provided with results from our sampling in the river,” the spokesperson added. “We would like to apologise to the community for the disruption this work is causing and for the impact we have had on the local environment.”

NRW says it will keep the community updated through a dedicated incident webpage.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

WELSH WATER: £44.7m sewage package confirmed — but critics say it is too little, too late
The company’s investment plans and the criticism that followed.

RIVER TAWE: First Minister orders investigation after sewage and sickness concerns raised in Senedd
The Tawe inquiry ordered after concerns were raised in the chamber.

GOWER: Protesters to rally at Caswell Bay — as new data reveals Welsh Water’s worst decade for pollution
The pollution figures that brought protesters to one of Swansea’s Blue Flag beaches.

TENBY: MP demands Welsh Water answers after boy hospitalised swimming in sea
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RESOLVEN: Crushed! Van used to dump cannabis farm waste in Neath Valley forest is destroyed — after five prosecuted

A van used to dump cannabis farm waste in a Neath Valley forest has met a fitting end — in the jaws of a crusher.

The white Ford Transit tipper was forfeited to Neath Port Talbot Council by the court, and was destroyed on Wednesday.

It comes after five people were fined a combined £6,822 at Swansea Magistrates Court over the dumping of the waste on land at Rheola Forestry, near Resolven, owned by Natural Resources Wales.

Investigators were led to the culprits after correspondence was found within the dumped waste — with CCTV, witness accounts and what the council described as “extensive questioning” completing the case.

Keiron Powell, 29, and Darcy Thomas, 30, both of Greenwood Road, Neath, pleaded guilty to unlawfully depositing controlled waste and transporting waste without a waste carrier’s licence, and were each ordered to pay £1,830.

Stephen John Powell, 54, also of Greenwood Road, admitted knowing his vehicle was being used to unlawfully deposit controlled waste, and was ordered to pay £812.

Ian Jenkins, 39, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to failing in his duty of care to ensure waste was disposed of lawfully, and was ordered to pay £944.

Anthony Jones, 32, of Wheatley Road, Neath, denied the charges but was found guilty at trial of failing to ensure the waste was disposed of lawfully — and was ordered to pay £1,406. Another man who stood trial alongside him was found not guilty.

All five were sentenced on 21 May, with the court ordering the tipper to be handed to the council.

Cllr Scott Jones, the council’s cabinet member for streetscene, said: “We have beautiful areas of forestry and countryside throughout the Neath Port Talbot county and people should be able to enjoy it responsibly without encountering dangerous deposits like this.

“We hope this sends a strong message that regardless of how minor you think your role is in the illegal disposal of waste, you will still be held responsible.”

James Roseblade, land management senior officer for Natural Resources Wales, said illegal waste disposal continued to be “a serious and unacceptable blight on our communities, our environment, and our economy”.

“Waste crime takes many forms, operating at different scales, and costs businesses, landowners and taxpayers millions of pounds each year. It also causes significant harm to the environment, human health and wildlife,” he said.

“We welcome the court’s decision in this case and hope it sends a clear message that waste-related crime will not be tolerated and will be punished — and Natural Resources Wales and its partners will continue to take appropriate enforcement action against those who break the law.”

Footage released by the council shows the bags being put out at the kerbside and loaded into the tipper — along with the waste in situ at Rheola Forestry, and the van’s final moments in the crusher.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

RESOLVEN: Five fined more than £6,800 after cannabis farm waste dumped in Neath Valley forest
The full story of the prosecutions over the waste discovered at Rheola Forestry.

RIVER TAWE: First Minister orders investigation after sewage and sickness concerns raised in Senedd

The First Minister has asked Natural Resources Wales to investigate the River Tawe after concerns were raised in the Senedd about pollution and reports of people falling ill.

Rhun ap Iorwerth told the chamber he was aware of recent reports of sickness among people who had been swimming in the river.

“I am aware of and concerned about recent reported incidents of sickness when individuals have been swimming in the River Tawe,” he said.

“I have asked Natural Resources Wales to investigate the reports, and I will provide an update when further information becomes available.”

The issue was raised during First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday by Rebeca Phillips, the Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd.

She told the chamber that residents in the Swansea valley had reported a number of people, many of them children, falling ill after entering the water.

She asked the First Minister to provide assurance that the Government would “work closely with Natural Resources Wales and Dŵr Cymru to thoroughly investigate these incidents, and take the necessary action to safeguard public health and improve water quality.”

The First Minister said he would work with all the necessary bodies to ensure a joined-up approach to any investigation.

Mike Hedges, the Labour Member of the Senedd for Gŵyr Abertawe, who has worked with two local angling clubs on pollution in the river, pointed to the Trebanos waste water treatment works.

He told the chamber that the Trebanos pumping station was not separating rainwater and sewage, leaving limited options when it became full.

“When it gets full, the two choices are to let it back up and flood the houses with sewage or release it into the river,” he said.

He said Natural Resources Wales had confirmed that work to prevent the regular discharge of untreated sewage from the works was “not likely to be completed until 2030.”

“I do not believe that is acceptable,” he added.

Hedges also linked reports of children being taken ill after swimming in the river to the wider pollution problem, and raised concerns about run-off entering the water.

The Trebanos works, which serves Pontardawe, Rhyd-y-fro and Ystalyfera, was named by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water in 2020 as the worst of its 50 problem sites in Wales.

Local angling clubs, working with the campaign group Fish Legal, have logged repeated sewage spills into the river over a number of years.

The concerns in the Senedd came as a Clydach community councillor, Matthew Bailey, issued a public warning urging parents to keep children out of the river after several were reported to have become unwell.

His notice, shared by the Pontardawe and Swansea Angling Society, said Natural Resources Wales, the local authority and the Welsh Government had been notified.

It has not been independently confirmed what caused the reported illnesses.

The River Tawe has a long-documented history of sewage pollution, much of it linked to the Trebanos works upstream.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

River Tawe ‘one of the most sewage filled in the UK’
Analysis of Welsh Water data found the Tawe among the most sewage-hit rivers in the country.

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Bills climbing as anger grows over sewage spills and under-investment.

Landmark water review recommends overhaul of Welsh regulation
Report called for a single regulator as sewage pollution hit record levels.

RESOLVEN: Five fined more than £6,800 after cannabis farm waste dumped in Neath Valley forest

Five people have been ordered to pay nearly £7,000 after the remains of a cannabis farm were fly-tipped on forestry land near Resolven.

The waste was dumped illegally in the Rheola forest in the Neath Valley, on land owned by Natural Resources Wales.

It was a document left among the rubbish — along with CCTV, witness accounts and other evidence — that helped investigators track down those responsible.

Following a prosecution brought by Neath Port Talbot Council, four men and a woman were sentenced at Swansea Magistrates’ Court on 21 May.

Between them they were ordered to pay a total of £6,822 in fines, costs and victim surcharges.

Keiron Powell, 29, of Greenwood Road, Neath, was ordered to pay £1,830 after admitting illegally depositing controlled waste.

Darcy Thomas, 30, also of Greenwood Road, Neath, was ordered to pay the same amount for the same offence.

Stephen John Powell, 54, again of Greenwood Road, Neath, was ordered to pay £812 after admitting being in control of the vehicle used to dump the waste.

Anthony Jones, 32, of Wheatley Road, Neath, was ordered to pay £1,406 after being found guilty of failing to ensure the waste was disposed of lawfully.

Ian Jenkins, 39, of no fixed abode, was ordered to pay £944 for the same duty-of-care offence.

A sixth man, who had denied wrongdoing, stood trial alongside Jones and was found not guilty.

The court also ordered the tipper truck used to carry the waste to be forfeited to the council, which is now assessing the vehicle and may have it crushed.

The dumped material was the spent contents of a cannabis grow — black fabric planters, growing medium and other equipment — rather than household rubbish.

Cabinet member for streetscene, Cllr Scott Jones, said people should be able to enjoy the county’s forests and countryside without coming across dangerous dumped waste.

He said the case sent a strong message that anyone involved in illegal waste disposal would be held responsible, however minor they believed their role to be.

James Roseblade, land management senior officer for Natural Resources Wales, said illegal waste disposal remained a serious blight on communities, the environment and the economy.

He said tackling it was one of the organisation’s highest priorities, and welcomed the court’s decision as a clear signal that waste crime would not be tolerated.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Neath Port Talbot crushes fly-tippers’ vehicles as crackdown intensifies
The council’s wider clampdown on illegal dumping, including crushing offenders’ vehicles.

NEATH: Fly-tipper ordered to pay £5,000+ after being caught by hidden camera
A hidden camera caught a series of dumping incidents in Neath.

NEATH: Man sentenced after knives and household waste fly-tipped in town hotspot
Another recent council prosecution over dumped waste.

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PORT TALBOT: Fire enters controlled phase as road closures lifted and air quality monitoring deployed

The major fire at Water Street in Port Talbot is entering a controlled phase and de-escalating, with both road closures now lifted and air quality monitoring deployed across affected areas throughout the day.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service crews will remain on scene for the foreseeable future to continue damping down and managing hotspots, supported by Neath Port Talbot Council JCB crews.

Both the A4242 Afan Way dual carriageway and the Afan Way/Water Street westbound carriageway have been reopened. The adjacent footpath and cycleway remains closed at this time.

Air quality monitoring has been deployed throughout the day in areas affected by the smoke plume to assess any impacts and help protect public health. The advice remains for local residents and businesses to keep windows and doors closed while smoke is present, opening them again when the smoke passes. People who feel unwell should seek appropriate medical advice.

Natural Resources Wales officers have been on site throughout the day providing specialist advice to the fire and rescue services and the site operator. Monitoring of the nearby River Afan has confirmed there has been no pollution entering the river from firefighting water run-off – a significant reassurance for the local environment.

Fire and rescue services will now support the transition into the recovery phase, working closely with Natural Resources Wales to ensure the site remains safe and to minimise any ongoing environmental or community impact.

The fire broke out at the Water Street commercial site yesterday morning, where around 200 tonnes of commercial waste had been stored. At its height it required eight fire stations from both Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

Earlier today, schools in the area kept pupils and staff indoors as a precaution while smoke drifted across the town, and rest centre facilities were placed on standby by the council.

Residents in the Water Street area are asked to continue following guidance from emergency services while crews complete the damping down operation. The footpath and cycleway adjacent to the site remains closed until further notice.

Anyone with concerns about the smoke or their health should contact NHS 111 for advice, or call 999 in an emergency.

Our Port Talbot fire coverage

PORT TALBOT: Huge industrial fire sends black smoke billowing over town as eight fire stations scramble to Dock Road
Our original report as the fire broke out yesterday morning.

PORT TALBOT: Fire crews still battling Dock Road blaze as dramatic new images emerge from inside the site
Aerial images from inside the site as crews fought the blaze through the night.

PORT TALBOT: Schools keeping pupils indoors as fire crews remain on scene at Water Street blaze
This afternoon’s update as road closures were put in place and schools kept pupils inside.

GOWER: Fire crews tackle two wildfires in 24 hours -Fairwood Common and Cefn Bryn – as bank holiday fire risk soars

Fire crews have tackled two major wildfires on the Gower Peninsula within 24 hours, with blazes breaking out at both Fairwood Common and Cefn Bryn as Natural Resources Wales warns of peak bank holiday fire risk.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service say that the first fire broke out at Fairwood Common at 7.50pm on Wednesday 29 April, when a crew from Swansea West Fire Station tackled a wildfire across approximately four hectares of grass, bracken and trees. Strong winds and difficult terrain hampered progress. The crew left the scene at 10:08pm

The fire service said that a larger fire then broke out on Cefn Bryn at 1.10pm on Thursday 30 April — crews from Swansea Central, Swansea West and Reynoldston were called to a wildfire across approximately 35 hectares of grass and gorse, using three hose reel jets alongside wildfire beaters and blowers. They left the scene at 5.14pm.

A spokesperson for Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said crews faced difficult conditions at both incidents. “This incident was especially challenging as strong winds and terrain hampered the progress made by crew members,” the spokesperson said of the Fairwood Common fire.

Dramatic aerial images taken by Sol Cinema show a wide fire front tearing across the dry grassland of the common, with a thick wall of orange flame and a huge plume of grey smoke visible for miles around. Fairwood Airport sits nearby on the common.

It comes as Natural Resources Wales warns that the May bank holiday weekend brings some of the highest wildfire risk of the year – with dry conditions, warm temperatures and thousands of extra visitors heading to open countryside creating the perfect conditions for fires to take hold and spread fast.

Gower has been hit by a string of devastating grass fires in recent months. In April, seven fire crews fought a 120-hectare blaze on Cefn Bryn as high winds turned the fire into a monster. In February 2025, firefighters were called to two separate 100-hectare fires on Gower in a single day, and Bishopston Community Council launched an emergency appeal after a fifth woodland fire broke out in the area within weeks.

Tonight’s fire adds to the pressure on a fire service already stretched by the huge commercial waste fire still burning at Water Street in Port Talbot, which has had multiple appliances tied up since yesterday.

Fairwood Common is part of the Gower National Landscape – the UK’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which this month celebrates its 70th anniversary. Its dry grass and heathland make it one of the most fire-prone stretches of land in south Wales, particularly during warm bank holiday weekends when visitor numbers spike.

Natural Resources Wales urges anyone heading to the countryside this weekend not to light open fires or disposable barbecues on commons, moorland or woodland. Any fire should be reported immediately by calling 999.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Gower: Seven fire crews tackle 120-hectare blaze on Cefn Bryn as windy conditions hamper efforts
Our coverage of the major Cefn Bryn fire in April 2026.

Firefighters tackle grass fires as far as 100 hectares wide in Gower twice in one day
Two major Gower fires in a single day in February 2025.

Firefighters tackle fire 100 hectares wide in Gower
The previous day’s blaze that preceded the twin fires.

Bishopston Community Council launch appeal after fifth fire at woodland in a matter of weeks
Growing alarm about repeated fires on Gower.

Port Talbot: Schools keeping pupils indoors as fire crews remain on scene at Water Street blaze
MWWFRS are simultaneously managing the ongoing Port Talbot industrial fire.

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PONTARDDULAIS: Man handed suspended sentence in first conviction in Wales for illegal animal snares

A Pontarddulais man has become the first person in Wales to be convicted for illegally setting animal snares following the introduction of a total ban on their use, a court has heard.

Jarrod Hill, 59, of Pontarddulais, Swansea, was given a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months after pleading guilty at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court to setting snares to trap wild mammals. Hill had claimed foxes were killing his ducks at White Springs Fishery in Carmarthenshire.

The snares were discovered on Friday 10 October 2025 by officers from Dyfed-Powys Police‘s Rural Crime Team and Natural Resources Wales staff who were carrying out routine fishery compliance checks at the site.

Hill had previously been warned about the use of snares in 2022 — at a time when their use was still permitted in certain circumstances. Despite the law changing in October 2023 to introduce a total ban, he continued to set them.

The use of snares was outlawed in Wales under the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023, which came into force on 17 October 2023, making Wales the first part of the UK to introduce a complete ban on both snares and glue traps.

Sergeant Paul Roberts of the Dyfed-Powys Police Rural Crime Team said the case marked an important milestone. “Working closely with our partner agency, Natural Resources Wales, we welcome this outcome. Snares are a significant threat to wildlife, causing severe injuries and deaths,” he said.

“I’m proud to have secured the first conviction of its kind in Wales. This case underscores our shared commitment to protecting wildlife and ensuring that those who breach these laws are held accountable.”

Snares are wire traps designed to capture animals by tightening around the body, often causing prolonged suffering. They can trap animals indiscriminately, with studies showing a significant proportion of non-target species — including domestic pets — are caught.

The conviction sends a clear message that Wales’s landmark ban on snares will be enforced.

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HEARTBREAK: Swansea man banned for life after ‘threats to kill’ his own dog
A Swansea man was banned from keeping animals for life after threatening to kill his own dog.

Couple jailed after 52 animals found living in ‘filthy’ home with some suffering
A Milford Haven couple were jailed after RSPCA officers discovered 52 animals living in squalid conditions.

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When the booked model failed to show up, blind photographer Andrew Windsor’s guide dog Lilly stepped in.

Vet bill crackdown: New rules promise cheaper care for millions of pet owners
New regulations are set to drive down the cost of veterinary care for pet owners across the UK.

https://www.europesays.com/uk/807755/ Fly-tipping incidents in Wales rise by 14.7% #Britain #FlyTipping #GreatBritain #NaturalResourcesWales #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales

https://www.europesays.com/uk/728191/ Wales can’t keep treating the environmental crisis as an afterthought. Society itself must change. #Britain #Environment #GreatBritain #NaturalResourcesWales #Sustainability #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales

https://www.europesays.com/uk/727762/ Wales at “critical tipping point” as new report warns nature crisis is already here #BridgesToTheFuture #Britain #ClimateChange #DerekWalker #Environment #FutureGenerationsCommissioner #GreatBritain #HuwIrrancaDaviesMS #NaturalResourcesWales #NeilSachdev #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales

https://www.europesays.com/uk/643696/ North Wales national park plan ‘undermined’ by views from England and Scotland #Britain #Denbighshire #Flintshire #GreatBritain #Gwynedd #NaturalResourcesWales #Powys #Scotland #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wrexham

https://www.europesays.com/uk/579762/ Two North Wales beaches amongst lowest rated for bathing quality #Anglesey #Britain #CemaesBay #Conwy #Denbighshire #GreatBritain #Gwynedd #NaturalResourcesWales #NorthWalesBeaches #Rhyl #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales

‘Killer’ creature suspected to be lurking in popular Welsh lake

Concerns have been raised by members of the Vale of Glamorgan community after DNA testing results suggested that…
#NewsBeep #News #Wildlife #CosmestonCountryPark #CosmestonLakes #dnatesting #Invasivespecies #killershrimp #NaturalResourcesWales #Science #UK #UnitedKingdom #ValeofGlamorganCouncil
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/198958/

https://www.europesays.com/uk/498282/ ‘Killer’ creature suspected to be lurking in popular Welsh lake #CosmestonCountryPark #CosmestonLakes #DnaTesting #InvasiveSpecies #KillerShrimp #NaturalResourcesWales #Science #UK #UnitedKingdom #ValeOfGlamorganCouncil #wildlife

https://www.europesays.com/uk/438469/ Met Office issues second weather warning with one area of Wales to be worst affected #Britain #GreatBritain #MetOffice #NaturalResourcesWales #StrongWinds #SundayMorning #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales #WeatherWarning

#NaturalResourcesWales 🗨️ If you live near to or are visiting the coast on New Year's Day, please take extra care and keep a safe distance from coastal paths and promenades. With a wind warning in place from the early hours, large waves could sweep you off your feet and contain hidden dangers.

🌊 Strong winds near the coasts are expected to cause large waves. For this reason and also the heavy rain forecast, #NaturalResourcesWales has put much of #NorthWales under a Yellow “Be Aware” Warning for risk of localised flooding from today until Sunday. 2/2

⛈️ Latest for today (Thurs):

⚠️ #MetOffice Yellow Warning for Wind in place until 3am Fri. 40-50mph gusts inland (60-70mph by exposed coasts).

⚠️ New Yellow Warning for Rain issued inland, until 6pm tonight. 20-30mm possible. #NaturalResourcesWales Yellow Warning in place for flood risk.

⚠️ Met Office Yellow Warning for Wind and Rain, 3pm Fri - 6am Sun, for much of England and Wales. 15-25mm expected widely (50-70mm locally). 40-50mph gusts possible inland (60-70mph by coasts). #NaturalResourcesWales have also issued a Yellow "Be Aware" Warning for risk of flooding. 2/2

In terms of wind, the worst impacts will be felt on Sat in NW #Wales (50-60mph), especially on #Anglesey and along the coasts (possibly up to 70mph). It will be less windy on Sun but still blustery. #MetOffice and #NaturalResourcesWales have issued Yellow (Be Aware) warnings for Rain/Wind & flooding, respectively. Hunker down and stay safe all; it’s going to be a wild one! 🧵 2/2

🗨️ #NaturalResourcesWales have posted:

"Heavy rainfall in recent days, falling on heavily saturated land, has resulted in high river levels... Numerous flood warnings are in place across #Wales, with east and mid Wales being particularly impacted."

https://orlo.uk/sB3Lh

🗨️ From #NaturalResourcesWales: "We currrently have 3 Flood Alerts in place in NW and SW #Wales. Spells of heavy rain could lead to surface water flooding and will likely impact roads and driving conditions, so please take care if you need to travel and do not drive or walk through flood water."

✅ #MetOffice and #NaturalResourcesWales have cancelled their warnings for rain/flooding today as the rainfall forecasted is now only expected to be disruptive in parts of England.

⚠️🌧️ Following on from the Thunderstorm Warning issued for Sunday, the #MetOffice have issued an additional Yellow Warning for Rain over much of Wales. Cumulative rainfall over Saturday and Sunday poses a risk of localised flooding. As such, #NaturalResourcesWales have extended their “Be Aware” warning to cover the entire weekend.

⛈️ Chance of thunderstorms today and tomorrow. While the extent of these storms remain uncertain and many places will miss them, #MetOffice have issued a Yellow Warning for much of #NorthWales due to risk of 30-40mm falling in less than an hour. #NaturalResourcesWales have also issued a Yellow "Be Aware" Advisory.

⚠️🌬️ #MetOffice have issued a Yellow Warning, 1am-9am Thurs, for NW #Wales. 50mph winds forecast widely with 60mph gusts possible in exposed locations. Because trees are currently in full leaf at this time of year, this could lead to more downed trees than a typical winter storm. #NaturalResourcesWales have also issued tidal flood alerts due to elevated risk of coastal flooding due to the combination of high tides and strong winds. #NorthWales

#NaturalResourcesWales have placed most of the region on an AMBER "Be Prepared" Warning due to the risk of flooding. #NorthWales

⛈️ Plenty of thunderstorm activity to the south of #Eryri National Park (#Snowdonia) this afternoon. Please bear in mind that there is a #MetOffice Yellow Warning for Rain in place today, in addition to a Yellow Warning for risk of flooding from #NaturalResourcesWales. #NorthWales

⚠️ #MetOffice have issued a Yellow Warning for Thunderstorms, affecting all of #NorthWales, 12pm-10pm Sunday. While not everyone will see thunderstorms, potential severe weather is possible, including intense downpours that locally could deliver 30mm of rain in less than an hour, with the risk of surface water flooding. Additional hazards include hail, frequent lightning strikes, and strong gusts of wind. Concurrently, #NaturalResourcesWales has issued a Yellow Flood Risk across the region.