Judge rules planning permission for outdoor adventure centre in Pembrokeshire is unlawful because of environmental concerns

Judge rules planning permission for outdoor adventure centre in Pembrokeshire is unlawful because of environmental concerns

In a victory for local residents, the High Court has today (5 September 2025) ruled that permission for an outdoor adventure centre near Ceibwr Bay on the Pembrokeshire Coast was granted unlawfully following a legal challenge brought by campaign group Wild Justice.

Ceibwr Bay forms part of the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC), the Pembrokeshire Marine SAC, the West Wales Marine SAC and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The cliffs are home to nesting razorbill, guillemot, fulmar, herring gull, chough and kestrel. Ceibwr Bay and its nearby sea caves are recognised pupping areas for the grey seals, and otters frequent the bay. It is a remote, tranquil and wild part of the coastline.

Wild Justice argued that the development of an adventure centre at an old bus depot in Ceibwr Bay would have led to an increase in recreational activity, such as coasteering and kayaking, which would disturb species for which the bay has been designated.

Coasteering covers a range of activities including wild swimming, exploring coastal caves and jumping from cliffs into deep water. For over a decade, the local community, with whom Wild Justice works, has opposed coasteering at Ceibwr because of regular disturbance to wildlife, a lack of restriction on numbers and the absence of any official monitoring of the impacts.

The planning application was considered by the Management Committee of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA) in October 2024. However, Wild Justice was concerned that key information about the impacts of the development was not made available to the committee or members of the public before the application was determined, which prevented the public from making effective representations to the committee about the impacts of the proposed adventure centre. Wild Justice was also concerned that the assessment of impacts on the SACs was flawed.

Wild Justice applied to the High Court to challenge PCNPA’s decision in late 2024 and following the grant of permission for all grounds in early 2025, a hearing was held in Haverfordwest on 18 and 19 June 2025.

In today’s judgment, the Hon Mr Justice Eyre has found that PCNPA’s grant of planning permission was unlawful on the basis that a position statement and 2024 survey of breeding birds published by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), had not been made available to the committee before approval was given. The judge also agreed that the management committee had not been properly informed about the impact of the development on the Aberath-Carreg Wylan SSSI, including the potential for coasteering activities to disturb the chough, a species of bird for which the SSSI is designated.

On that basis, the judge held that the claim was successful and quashed the planning permission. This means that the application will need to be redetermined if the development is to go ahead.

Chris Packham, Director at Wild Justice said: An important victory for wildlife and biodiversity can be seen here, ably assisted by a brilliant local campaign, Wild Justice and our fabulous legal team. Fun is fine – but not when it endangers important and diminishing populations of birds and mammals. This proposal was flawed, improperly presented and thus ill considered. I hope this is a sign that the UK is waking up to its responsibilities to properly protect nature and sensibly mitigate against destroying it when clear alternatives are possible. It should also empower communities everywhere to recognise that they have the power to stand up and say ‘no’. Let’s hear it for the Razorbills, Guillemots and Gulls!

Bob Elliot, CEO at Wild Justice said: This judgment is a huge win for Ceibwr Bay’s wildlife and the community who have fought so hard to protect it for over a decade. The law is clear, decisions that threaten our most precious places must be based on sound evidence, not missing facts and flawed assessments. Ceibwr Bay is irreplaceable. Today’s ruling sends a powerful message: our protected sites deserve more than a rubber stamp; they deserve real protection.

Bob added: Wild Justice would like to thank our brilliant legal team Ricky Gama, Julia Eriksen and Carol Day at Leigh Day and David Wolfe KC at Matrix Chambers and Barney McCay at Landmark Chambers.

Ricky Gama, Partner at Leigh Day, said: Our clients are delighted to have been able to support the local community in Moylegrove to have this planning permission quashed. It was clear after the community approached Wild Justice that the wildlife impacts of the development hadn’t been properly looked at, which why they instructed us to bring a claim for judicial review.

While Wild Justice support people being given more opportunities to explore and engage with wildlife and the natural world, they believe that that can’t be at the expense of the wildlife itself. They hope that, in reconsidering the application, the national park authority will properly look at impacts to wild birds, seals and the other wild animals in Ceibwr Bay.

UPDATE: BBC News coverage of our successful legal challenge here.