Councillor seeks ‘assurances’ that coastal airfield is not being used to develop military drones

Dale Spridgeon, local democracy reporter

A councillor has called for assurances that a coastal airfield site is not being used for the development of drones for military purposes.

Councillor Beca Brown asked the question during Cyngor Gwynedd’s full council meeting in Caernarfon, on October 2.

She had raised the query about the Llanbedr site near Harlech, during a question and answer session, during the meeting held in the Dafydd Orwig council chamber.

The site first operated around 1941 as an RAF base and was home to a number of squadrons, during and after the Second World War.

It is thought to have closed and been decommissioned around 2004.

It would later be used for a variety of civil and commercial aviation activities, including pilot  training, testing flight systems, and as an enterprise centre.

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Drone testing and development

Cllr Brown had said: “it was International Day of Peace on September 21st – a day that gives the people of the world the opportunity to commit to creating a peaceful world and to reflect on how we could all contribute towards creating a culture of peace.

“With that in mind, I note that drone testing and development has been taking place at Llanbedr airfield in Gwynedd for over a decade, for a variety of purposes.

“Given the horrific effects of drones on civilians in wars, and given that we live in a world that feels increasingly unstable, can we be certain that the drones being developed at Llanbedr are not being used for military purposes?”

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Assurances 

Responding, Cllr Medwyn Hughes had told the meeting that the council had been in contact with the leasholders of the site, Snowdonia Aerospace LLP to “seek the assurances”.

Councillor Hughes said that Cyngor Gwynedd had been working with the leaseholders of the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre since the site had become part of the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone in 2011.

“The Centre offers a development space for different companies in the field of unmanned vehicles, satellites, and wider space technology,” he said.

“The Council has assisted them with projects that could lead to safeguarding and creating new employment opportunities in Llanbedr.

“They have recently received an £820,000 grant from the UK Space Agency to extend their research and testing facilities”.

He added that Cyngor Gwynedd was not currently supporting any projects or activities on the site.

“The Council has contacted Snowdonia Aerospace LLP, the leaseholders of the Site, to obtain assurances” that their customers were not developing drones for military purposes,” he said.

“Confirmation has been received from the Company that the site is only used by commercial companies.

“As they have agreed to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with their customers, they are not in a position to provide details of the operations of these companies.

“Nevertheless, the Company has confirmed that they have no planned military
drone operations with the Ministry of Defence at the site in Llanbedr”.