The first phase of a scheme for 67 affordable homes in a Pembrokeshire village by housing group Ateb is expected to get the go-ahead from county planners next week.
In an application recommended for conditional approval at the January 14 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, Ateb Group Limited is seeking permission for a residential development of 57 houses and 10 bungalows, and associated works, at land off The Kilns, Llangwm.
Agent Evans Banks Planning Limited – in a supporting statement on behalf of Ateb Group Limited – has said: “The site has the benefit of outline planning permission for an indicative total of 54 dwellinghouses, granted on November 2, 2022. The parameters and layout of that approved, indicative scheme have been examined and given full consideration as part of this detailed, current proposal.”
It added: “The scheme proposes 100 per cent affordable housing over a scheme of 67 units, in excess that required under LDP Policy and the 2022 outline planning permission. The proposed scheme is offering a broad range of house and bungalow types, and with tenures balanced in favour of social rented units, together with shared home ownership.”
An officer report says a social housing grant has been secured for the first phase of the proposed development, for 25 dwellings, with the mix of the second phase indicative at this stage; the first phase seeing six one-bed social rent houses; two one-bed and two two-bed social rent bungalows; ten two-bed houses, four social rent, six shared ownership; two three-bed houses, one intermediate rent, one shared ownership; and three four- bed houses for social rent.
Llangwm Community Council has raised issues including sewerage system capacity, a lack of facilities in the village and at nearby Cleddau Reach School for the size of the development, and potential traffic congestion.
18 letters of concern, including from Cleddau Reach VC school were also received, raising issues including traffic and parking, a loss of privacy, the scale and design of the development, the scheme representing a “fundamental change in the character of the village,” being “in excess of the need for affordable housing in Llangwm and nearby villages,” and “likely anti-social behaviour associated with the development”.
Cleddau Reach has raised issues of “a serious health and safety issue with regards to both parking and moving vehicles in and around the school premises,” safeguarding issues of “how the applicant will ensure that site staff working next door to the school are appropriately trained and will have the necessary checks in place to be working adjacent to the school,” and the development having “a significant long-term impact on both the size and the demographic of our school”.
The application is recommended for the council’s head of planning to have delegated powers of approval subject to the completion of a Section 106 agreement including the housing retaining their affordable statuses in perpetuity and financial contributions to mitigate the impact of development on local schools Cleddau Reach VC and Haverfordwest High VC.