PEMBROKESHIRE County Council is being recommended to oppose discrete designation of nitrate vulnerable zones in Wales.

The Welsh Government is currently consulting on its plans to deal with pollution to rivers and waterways from nitrates from fertilisers running off farmland.

The current discrete designations hit Pembrokeshire particularly hard, and dairy farms in particular have expressed fears restrictions could put them out of business.

In a report to Cabinet, officers support the all-Wales designation option rather than discrete designation.

“This option would be more equitable to farmers in Wales. It may bring cost savings due to an increase in scale and simpler administrative procedures,” the report says.

It adds that the all-Wales designation would be more equitable and it expresses significant concerns regarding:

1. Inequitable costs that would arise from discrete designation, resulting in Pembrokeshire farms becoming uncompetitive in a Wales and UK context.

2. The potential for perverse impacts caused by cross NVZ boundary movement of slurry, via trade between farm holdings.

It adds that localised impacts on the viability of farm holdings would be likely to have a disproportionate impact on local farming communities.

And the report adds that whichever approach is chosen, the Welsh Government will need to consider the implications of an increase in applications for contentious slurry lagoons.

The report will be considered by councillors on Monday, November 28.