Wales will not let itself go to the ‘DARC’ side, campaigners say ahead of general election

A public meeting held at Solva Memorial Hall in Pembrokeshire, Wales was ‘packed to the rafters’ campaigners report, as hundreds flooded the venue last night to hear about the dangers of the so-called ‘DARC’. It also called for all general election candidates in the area to be lobbied over an issue communities successfully fought against decades ago – but one that has now reared its ugly head again.

PARC against DARC

Following last month’s digital launch of the campaign last PARC Against DARC which has set up aiming to stop the UK/US military’s plans to create a 27 dish ‘Deep Space Advanced Radar Concept’ – ‘DARC’ high-power radar station at Cawdor Barracks in Brawdy, a further public meeting was held in Solva Memorial Hall on Thursday 27 June, which organisers say was ‘ram-packed’ with concerned residents who are gearing up to stop the radar.

Several speakers took to the stage and spoke to many of the key arguments laid out on the group’s campaign website which states that after fighting off a similar campaign in the 90’s which led to then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher being forced to announce cancellation of the project:

we are back, with a new generation, a new purpose, and a fight we are ready to win!

The meeting began with a screening of a new ‘movie trailer’ campaign video as a call to action which is available on the PARC YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsNsAIKAlTU

Race to the bottom for local leisure and tourism

Emma Bowen, general manager of the Retreats Group of local hotels spoke about the impact the radar would have on tourism saying:

As an accommodation provider set in the UK’s only truly coastal national park, we are totally reliant on leisure tourists who come to enjoy the coast path, beaches, history and culture. If you were looking for a holiday location, would you choose somewhere next to 27 enormous radar structures?

If DARC were to go ahead, it would negatively impact our business putting 75 jobs at risk, not to mention the secondary effect on over 40 plus suppliers and contractors.

‘Iron Dome’ radars of the same type as DARC found to cause cancer

Two short films were screened which had been created by leading scientists in the field of non-ionising radiation.

One outlined a study by Dr M. Peleg which had been conducted using research from cases of the Iron Dome in Israel and where the evidence showed that instances of cancer had doubled where soldiers had been posted to work in close proximity to the radars and which in a number of cases ended in fatalities.

The presentation explained that the Iron Dome produces the same kind of radiation, non-ionising radiofrequency radiation that the DARC radar array would produce, and has been found to quite aggressively produce cancer.

Six of the very young, 24 year-old military personnel working near these radar transmitters in a small unit in Israel were diagnosed with haemolymphatic cancers, at eight times the rate expected of their age group, with five other studies showing very similar results.

The author’s suggestions for some of the ways to mitigate such risks with powerful radar would either be by placing large valleys between the population and the radars – which is not possible because the Brawdy site is on the tallest hill in the area – or by implementing a very large exclusion zone.

That means, in other words, that the population would, according to the suggestion by this specialist in radiation safety, indeed have to be evacuated from the area in very large numbers in order to guarantee their safety.

A chilling quote from one of the Israeli soldiers described how this felt in the field, saying:

When you’re near a radar you’re literally feeling your body boiling from the inside out… if you try to imagine what happens to food when it is in the microwave, it is like that. You feel the heat coming in waves. We now know that as a result of this, Israeli soldiers have come to nickname the Iron Dome ‘the toaster.’

Cymru: a nation of peace and wildlife

CND Cymru’s secretary Dylan Lewis-Rowlands highlighted the dangers of military escalation from the US saying:

CND Cymru is proud to support the PARC against DARC campaign. We have always opposed the militarisation of space, and the further militarisation of Cymru.

The DARC initiative – part of the nuclear AUKUS alliance – is another step in this militarisation. This grassroots campaign we are supporting is all about putting the needs of our communities in Pembrokeshire and Wales before the interests of the US’s military ambitions.

Together, our voices can unite with those in the US and Australia, and others across the UK to demonstrate the need for peace, not further militarisation and war.

Michial Davies of the South and West Wales Wildlife Trust outlined the impacts the radar installation would have on Manx Shearwaters and other wildlife, telling the audience:

Lights and Manx shearwaters don’t mix. Brawdy is in sight from Skomer, the most important site in the world for this iconic seabird, Pembrokeshire’s “albatross”. Already, significant numbers of fledging birds, starting their migration to South America, fly inland, towards our lights. Darc will only make this worse causing more avoidable deaths.

“Not in Pembrokeshire, not anywhere!” says campaigner

Local campaigner Jim Scott rounded up the speeches on behalf of PARC and encouraged everyone in attendance to get involved with the fight back.

Pointing out that this is in now way a ‘done deal’, he said:

The MOD are making out as if this will just need to pass through some parish council one afternoon and that then they can get on with building this carcinogenic, military monstrosity, but that is ludicrous!

We know it would require specialist planning permission and there is no way on earth that we will allow our elected County Councillors in County Hall to let this get through.

We will campaign on every level to stop this and I urge everyone here to start immediately after this meeting by emailing the General Election Candidates, adding that Pembrokeshire voters have a right to know what they are voting for and the Tories and Labour have been completely silent on the matter so far.

Every single elected representative we have needs to be emailed. The link is on our lobbying page!

Before breaking for an interval the group took the opportunity to replicate what they described as an iconic photograph from the previous campaign’s first public meeting where the audience all held up NO RADAR placards:

The second half of the meeting was dedicated to all in attendance raising their concerns and discussing how the community could get involved with the campaign to stop DARC.

Challenge set for general election candidates over DARC

In a post on their social media pages, PARC Against DARC have also issued a challenge to all of the prospective parliamentary candidates standing for election in both the Pembrokeshire constituencies. Themed: “Pembrokeshire voters have a right to know”, the challenge asks the candidates:

Where do you stand on DARC Radar at Brawdy?

The post lists all of the email addresses of the combined 15 candidates.

So far, PARC says, only the Green Party and Plaid Cymru candidates have responded positively, with Cris Tomos, the Plaid Cymru candidate for Mid & South Pembrokeshire stating that he’d help to build the case for a High Court hearing against DARC Radar at Brawdy, with Ben Lake the incumbent Ceredigion Preseli MP for Plaid Cymru offering full support.

When pressed by PARC the Lib Dems locally and nationally have not yet been forthcoming with a position. Both the Wales Green Party and Plaid Cymru have publicly spoken out against DARC.

Lobby the candidates before polling day says campaign

In the final week of the general election campaign, PARC are urging all concerned voters and Pembrokeshire residents to email the candidates in both affected constituencies to insist that they declare a position on DARC before polling day.

They argue that the parties and the candidates in particular are ‘publicly accountable’ and have an ethical obligation disclose to their future constituents exactly where they stand on such an important and potentially devastating local issue.

PARC Against DARC added that the Labour Party has been “almost completely silent” on the issue despite reports filtering back to PARC that inside the local Labour Party activists and members have allegedly been heard to say that they are dead against the development.

No response whatsoever has been received by PARC from the Conservatives.

Featured image via PARC