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Connaught car plan delayed by Welsh Assembly Government
publication date: Feb 23, 2009
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author/source: Robin Roberts
The Welsh Assembly Government is reported to have
moved to block a planning application it has made on behalf of a car company
which wants to bring about 200 jobs to Llanelli.
Connaught
engineering has been waiting over a year to open their £12Million factory at
Dafen, Llanelli and last week it seemed to be going ahead with an application
being considered by Carmarthen County Council from the Welsh Industrial
Partnership, which includes WAG.
According to
reports, councillors were "minded to approve" the 25,000 factory opposite the
Performance Technium, Dafen until Welsh Assembly Government issued a direction
to the authority not to go ahead with approving the project at the moment.
A statement
from the council said, "The planning committee had already decided it was
minded to approve the application."
Carmarthenshire's
head of planning Eifion Bowen added, "The planning authority was supportive of
the proposal and was mindful to approve planning permission. However, the Welsh
Assembly Government has issued a direction preventing Carmarthenshire County
Council from approving it.
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"No details have been provided as yet, but it is
understood that it is related to the issue of the water quality in the Burry
Inlet. Carmarthenshire is awaiting further clarification from WAG." | | Connaught win environmental awards for future technology
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The company
was established in 2002 to revive the Connaught sports cars name and based its
headquarters in Llanelli in 2007.
It employs around 25 people at its Technium
Centre base in Dafen, next to where it hopes the new hybrid car research and
production plant will be built.
It chose
Llanelli because of the industrial and automotive skills available in the area
plus good relations with the Welsh Assembly Government. Connaught first
unveiled plans for the factory in Llanelli two years ago, but it was hit by
delays then including the ban on new developments due to the sewer problems.
Despite the
delay, Connaught said they still intended to press on with the green-sports car
project which will use a small petrol engine with an auxiliary electric drive,
super capacitators and regenerative braking to cut emissions.
Another major project delayed due to the underground
problems in Llanelli are 450 homes on the Scarlets' former Stradey Park rugby
ground.
The
development embargo was introduced after fears that Llanelli's sewage system
may become overloaded.
Concerns have been raised that the sewage system is polluting
sea water off the coast and harming the area's cockle industry. Part of the
problem was blamed on sewage entering the sea after heavy rain. | |
Connaught Engineering has gained two important
environmental awards and one commendation for their unique, retro fit HYBRID+
technology.
It is the second
year that the company has be recognised in the Rushlight awards for their
ground breaking work in helping to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in
light commercial vehicles.
The Rushlight
Awards celebrate and promote new technology, innovation and best practice
across the whole environmental spectrum for organisations throughout the UK and
Ireland.
Connaught Engineering received two awards, the Rushlight Pollution
Management Award, sponsored by Clarity Authoring and the Rushlight Air
Pollution Technology Award. The company was also commended in the Powered
Transport Award.
The judging for
the awards is performed by an independent panel of recognized experts covering
all the clean technology sectors drawn from academia, trade associations,
government departments and specialist media.
The judges said,
"Connaught Engineering has developed a means of hybridising existing vehicles,
thereby achieving up to 25pc improvements in fuel economy without the need for
a heavy battery. Their hybridisation system is easily retrofitted to most
existing vehicles and it therefore offers most vehicle owners a relatively
inexpensive way to reduce CO2 emissions".
Commenting on
the awards Tony Martindale, CEO of Connaught Engineering said, "I would like to
thank all of our partners and customers in enabling Connaught to be the only
company recognised for the second year running at the Rushlight Awards. This
year the awards not only reflect the reduction in CO2 that HYBRID+ offers, but
also the reduction in NOX and Particulates which are the key factors in local
air quality."
| | - See Connaught | |
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