The changes to PPW come at a crucial time for the charity's campaign to protect the Gwent Levels, currently under threat from multiple, adjacent solar plant proposals and business parks.

Gwent Wildlife Trust, supported by leading conservationists such as Iolo Williams, Lizzie Daly and Julian Hoffman, recently launched a campaign to call a halt on significant development on these nationally important wetlands until full formal protection is in place.  A Senedd petition to that effect is currently running, with the aim of gaining 10,000 signatures, and triggering a debate in a full plenary session.

SSSIs are areas of land throughout the UK which are officially judged to be important for wildlife at the UK level. They are "designated" (given official protection) by Natural Resources Wales, the Welsh Government's statutory body on wildlife. They are considered to be the "jewels in the crown" of Welsh wildlife and cover only 11% of the land and coastal areas of Wales. 

Adam Taylor, Gwent Wildlife Trust CEO, says,

"We are grateful that the national Welsh planning rules - Planning Policy Wales - has now recognised the importance of protecting SSSIs from development proposals by giving them significantly greater protection under this legal framework. There is now an official presumption against locating a development where it will damage these special areas.

"The Gwent Levels are under siege from a number of development proposals that would cause irretrievable damage to this nationally important landscape and the incomparable wildlife that depends upon it. We would like to stress that we are not against solar plants, simply that these developments should not be placed where they will destroy precious habitat.  The existing solar plant at Llanwern has already had a catastrophic impact on a hugely important lapwing breeding site."

Local people are also relieved to see the changes to PPW.

Cath Davis, a fourth generation Gwent Levels farmer, says,

"I let out a huge sigh of relief at this news, as the new rules will make it much harder for developers to target my community and the irreplaceable Levels landscape. My family has farmed this stunning area for more than a century. I follow in my parents and grandparents' footsteps as custodian of a very special area. This landscape means everything to me, and I have been lobbying for its protection for many years.  Since the Second World War, approximately half of the Levels have disappeared, making protecting what's left all the more essential."