A local Senedd Member has renewed his warning that a moratorium driven by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) guidance, and left unresolved by the Welsh Government, has brought housebuilding across large parts of Pembrokeshire to a near standstill for almost six months, with mounting consequences for jobs, local businesses and housing supply.

Speaking in the Senedd recently, the Member of the Senedd for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire challenged Ministers over the continued paralysis affecting new housing developments linked to NRW guidance on the marine Special Area of Conservation off the Pembrokeshire coast.

Despite sustained efforts by local planning authorities to work constructively within the rules, development has effectively stalled across wide areas of the county.

Mr Kurtz made clear that responsibility for the impasse lies with NRW and the Welsh Government, not with local councils, which are doing everything they reasonably can in exceptionally difficult circumstances. In the absence of clear and workable national direction, councils are unable to progress applications or provide certainty to developers.

The consequences are now being felt across the local economy, with housebuilders laying off staff and architects, surveyors and other construction-related businesses seeing work disappear as schemes remain paused.

“These are real and immediate job losses,” Mr Kurtz warned. “Taking place in a county already facing an acute housing shortage and directly undermining the Welsh Government’s stated ambition to increase housing supply and support economic growth.”

Mr Kurtz has called for urgent and meaningful engagement between the Welsh Government, NRW and local authorities to deliver a proportionate solution that protects the marine environment without sacrificing jobs, livelihoods and the delivery of much-needed homes.

He has also pressed the Cabinet Secretary for Housing to clarify what support is being offered to affected workers and businesses, and when the sector can expect certainty to return.

Commenting, Mr Kurtz said:“Everyone accepts the need to protect our natural environment, but this blanket, unresolved approach from NRW, compounded by a lack of action from the Welsh Government, has left housebuilding in Pembrokeshire frozen for nearly six months.

“Planning authorities are being placed in an impossible position and are doing their best under the circumstances, yet builders and architects are already laying off staff because they simply cannot operate under the current guidance.

“These job losses are a genuine and growing cause for concern. At a time of severe housing shortage, the Welsh Government must take responsibility, get a grip on this situation and urgently deliver a solution that protects the environment while safeguarding jobs, homes and local communities.”