Proposals for a US military radar installation at Brawdy would paint a ‘military target’ on Pembrokeshire’s Back - campaigners against the plans strongly believe...

The campaign group PARC Against DARC which was launched in 2024 in opposition to the proposed US military radar installation at Brawdy is calling for a ‘County wide response’ to the official consultation on DARC Radar.

As part of statutory public engagement obligations, London Based PR corporation, Cascade Communications announced the opening of the public consultation on February 22 which will close on Sunday, March 22.

They say that the Military of Defence [MOD} will then submit an official planning application to Pembrokeshire County Council the following day.

PCC are then expected to run their own public engagement and consultation with agencies, stakeholders and the public.

In response, PARC Against DARC have launched what they describe as a massive community led response of opposition which offers concerned residents and the public several ways to get involved in actively opposing the plans, issuing a Clarion Call for collective action.

First and foremost the campaign group is urging people to visit the consultation page on their website www.parcagainstdarc.com and to take part in the consultation response where they have created easy & accessible ‘action-tools’ with simple ‘one-click’ options to email the consultation and to register opposition to the Radar plans.

Emails can also be sent to Cascade Communications at: [email protected] directly.

The campaign group says that there is ‘massive momentum’ to stop the proposals, which has already made significant inroads to stalling the plans in its first two years, with Plaid Cymru and the Green Party firmly supporting the campaign at national Party levels.

38 elected politicians have also supported motions in both the Senedd and Westminster opposing plans, with many pledging to escalate opposition through parliamentary procedures in both Cardiff and Westminster.

Last summer there was an incredible turnout of people for a protest display where locals linked hands in a line that stretched right across Newgale beach.

In strongly condemning the proposals, campaigners believe that the plans would cause a massive and unsightly visual impact from all sides, with no suitable mitigations possible, as well as dissuading visitors to the area, damaging tourism and local businesses.

They also state that they are ‘appalled’ by a complete absence of any meaningful data in the EIA that could possibly establish whether DARC’s radiation impacts local people, wildlife and livestock; believing that the array would negatively impact multiple wildlife habitats including those of the Manx Shearwater population, bats, skylarks and others. Campiagners also believe that DARC would be impactful to the local water supply, concerns of which have not been acceptably addressed.

PARC Against DARC believe that the proposals risks both provoking unhelpful tensions with other nations, escalating the St Davids peninsula as a military target for foreign actors; with DARC’s intended use in providing targeting against foreign satellites potentially resulting in the creation of a ‘Kessler Syndrome’ outcome that puts the global civilian satellite network at high risk of damage by space debris.

Campaigners said that constructing and operating the array would be implausible due to poor road access from all sides, stating that there is evidence that the planning applicant is attempting to ‘salami slice’ the planning application into separate parts in order to undermine its perceived level of planning impact.

A spokesperson for PARC Against DARC remarked: “There is already a massive momentum of opposition to this dangerous radar which if ever built would unquestionably be the most powerful, most high-radiation installation ever imposed on British soil.

“With residents a stone’s throw away from the edge of the base, the MOD’s absolute stone-cold refusal to publish any data for public scrutiny is disgusting, and we deserve better from our government, and the Labour Party.

“When questioned about this and thousands of studies showing health risks, all the MOD does is trot out one widely-criticised research group that ignores the modern research body on radiation and is under intensive military lobbying influence, and expects residents here to shut up.

“The MOD’s latest press releases are also trying to reverse reality on what everyone knows DARC radar is for. Far from being about tracking space debris that could cause a chain reaction able to destroy all the satellites we depend on, information releases we’ve seen from the US just confirm its primary purpose is to provide the targeting data to attack other nations’ satellites, actually making DARC itself the main risk for that whole catastrophe unfolding in the first place.

“Our petition has been signed by over 18,000 people, local politicians have pledged to fight the proposals in the High court and it is set to be a serious ‘vote killer’ in the upcoming Senedd elections this May.

“Not only would this obscene installation of 27 radars ‘as high as four double decker buses each’ destroy the landscape and precious ecology of the St Davids peninsula, it would effectively be like painting a giant missile target on Pembrokeshire in any future conflict.”

The spokesperson continued: “It is not conjecture or in any way hyperbolic to highlight this fact. We have just seen in the first 3 days of the US / Israel war against Iran that three of the US’s Radar installations sited at US bases in neighbouring countries, worth over $2.5 Billion dollars were immediately targeted & destroyed by Iran’s military in drone and missile strikes.”

“This is just the reality of modern warfare and anyone trying to tell you that DARC radar, which the US want on our soil with the express and stated intention of ‘militarily dominating space’ would not vastly increase the threat level of Pembrokeshire as a military target is at best foolish and at worst outright lying to you.”

As well as the unanswered health worries which the campaign say are backed up by over 4,000 scientific papers highlighting the dangers of these types of Radar, campaigners said that they anticipate a county wide push-back against the Radar and urging people to ramp up their activity at this pivotal time.

The spokesperson continued: “These Senedd elections will offer a unique opportunity to vote with our feet because the new, fully proportional voting system will be in effect. With an increase from 60 to 96 elected representatives and voting for 16-18 year olds too this will be a game changing election where people can vote with confidence that their vote on the ballot paper will translate into an elected Senedd member.

“The current polling suggests there will be a progressive Plaid led coalition after the elections which will include the Welsh Greens so we urge everyone to register to vote so that we can ensure there is an anti-DARC Government in Cardiff which will have the powers to ‘Call-in’ the planning application and stop DARC in its tracks.”

The campaign also believes that DARC will become a 'deal breaker' issue in the upcoming Senedd elections stating: “We beat proposals for a similar Radar in the 90s because the entire County (in fact Country) came out against the US military's plans back then, so we know we can do it again but we need everyone to play their part in emailing in to both consultations and also making a stand at the ballot box this May.”

The MOD’s Pre-Application report can be read in full here