A public meeting in Llanbedr to discuss the future of the former military base drew a huge crowd on Feb 18.

The meeting was called by the Llanbedr Community Council to "clear the air" following the decision of the Snowdonia National Park Authority to refuse Kemble Air Services a certificate of lawful use for the base.  Officers of the Society and the Director welcomed the meeting and took part.

Before the meeting, rumours were circulating that Kemble were going to apply for planning permission to resolve the planning status at the disused and decommissioned military base.  That would have required them to tell the community and the wider public about their plans for this critical site and submit an assessment of the effects on the environment.  David Young of Kemble angrily squashed those rumours.  He said they "would never apply for planning permission"  and refused to rule out any use for the site, including activities such as testing of Formula One cars and a scrapyard  for airliners carried out on Kemble’s existing site.

The Snowdonia Society regrets Kemble’s determination not to apply for planning permission, thereby avoiding normal statutory safeguards for the environment.  We do not wish this site to be sterilised.  In particular we have consistently supported use of the existing buildings to provide space for local businesses and jobs for local people.  We want future use of this site to form part of a wider strategy for regenerating Ardudwy which will bring the maximum benefit to the whole area.  We also want future use of this site to be compatible with the status of the area as a National Park and with the multimillion pound tourism industry founded on that.

At the public meeting Kemble declined to tell the community what their next step will be. On Feb 19 BBC TV reported that Kemble have now decided to submit a further application to the National Park Authority for a certificate of lawful use, this time in narrower terms.  If this news is confirmed we hope their use of that procedure, while less than ideal, is nevertheless going to clarify the situation and will open the way to bringing sustainable jobs back onto this site at an early date.

Latest media coverage is here.