Council turn down outline plans for 29 houses

OUTLINE plans for two housing schemes in Carmarthenshire have been turned down.

Twenty houses were proposed in Carmarthen, and nine were planned in Pontyates.

A company called Omnicorp Ltd wanted to build the Carmarthen estate on land north of Parc y Delyn, with a new access planned and improvements made to Penlan Road.

A document submitted as part of its application said the 20 houses would be detached and that up to six of them would be designated as affordable. The town centre, it added, was within walking distance.

Carmarthenshire Council planning officers rejected the application, saying Penlan Road wasn’t wide enough or aligned sufficiently to accommodate the extra traffic, and that the road also had inadequate pedestrian facilities.

Officers also said there was insufficient information to assess whether the reptile mitigation strategy submitted was adequate, and that the applicant had not completed an agreement with the authority to secure community benefits.

The nine houses and bungalows in Pontyates were planned by developer Mike Pursey off Heol Llanelli, although access was proposed off Ponthenri Road.

“The site which was previously a coal yard and mine with rail sidings and over the years it has been colonised by scrub and small trees,” said a design and access report submitted as part of the application.

Energy efficient and low carbon measures were proposed for the nine properties including air source heat pumps, solar panels and electric vehicle charging points. Most of the trees and shrubs at the site were to be retained, with more greenery to be planted.

Planning officers, however, said the sloping site was “highly constrained” by the presence of a public sewer, watercourse and past mining activities, and that it hadn’t been demonstrated that the land could accommodate the homes while addressing these cumulative impacts.

They also said there wasn’t an affordable housing agreement, nor a contribution towards leisure facilities.

Applicants for both the housing proposals can appeal the council’s refusal decision.