THE Welsh Government “remain oblivious” to the limitations and damaging impacts of the all-Wales NVZ approach, a Montgomeryshire county NFU Cymru meeting has heard.

The organisation’s Montgomeryshire county chairman, Hugh Besent, said NFU Cymru has invested significant time and resources in good faith in working with government, regulators and other stakeholders on the development of a framework that enables farmers to take action to improve water quality where it is needed.

At the meeting, held virtually on Thursday, February 18, Mr Besent said: “It is incredulous to think that the Welsh Government has opted for a lazy ‘cut and paste’ of the much-discredited EU Nitrates Directive – an unwieldy, inflexible and outdated example of EU regulation – just weeks after the end of the EU withdrawal period.”

The Welsh Government announcement introducing an NVZ designation across the whole of Wales was received with clear disappointment from all attendees. Guest speaker, NFU Cymru president John Davies, outlined the regulations and stated that a response needed to be heard loud and clear.

NFU Cymru is clear, that based on the evidence an all-Wales NVZ approach cannot be justified, there is no evidence to suggest it will be effective in reducing levels of agricultural pollution and the costs to farming, our rural communities and the wider supply chain greatly outweigh any benefits to water quality.

All attendees were encouraged to make use of the NFU Cymru template letter on the website to ensure their local politicians understand the strength of feeling within the industry.

Mr Besent added: “Time is of the essence for farmers throughout the county and indeed Wales to respond united ahead of the vote to annul the regulations on March 3.

“The template letter produced by NFU Cymru is available on the NFU Cymru website and all are encouraged to make use of the tool as soon as possible to ensure Senedd members are aware of the gravity of these regulations on their rural constituents.”