FURTHER amendments to plans to build a Home Bargains discount store in the centre of Cardigan have been given the go-ahead by county planners as a proposed material for its car park is no longer available.
Ceredigion County Council’s Development Management Committee, at its May 2023 meeting, had backed a recommended approval of an application by T J Morris Ltd to build the discount retail store at Bath House Road.
Planers heard the national discount retail chain would create up to 100 full time and part-time jobs in Cardigan and will create £6 million of investment in the private sector; the nearest other Home Bargains store is some 22 miles away in Carmarthen.
Home Bargains has become one of the biggest privately-owned companies in the UK.
The application had previously proved contentious locally, with some town councillors vehemently opposing it, one saying it would result in money “going out of the town to England,” while others have supported it.
The application sought full planning permission for the erection of a single-storey retail unit along with access and servicing arrangements, a 184-space car park, landscaping and associated works.
One objection was received, focusing on noise, traffic and pollution. Concerns were also raised regarding security and impact on businesses selling similar items within the town.
A retail impact assessment stated the proposal “is unlikely to have a major adverse impact on the long-term vitality of Cardigan town centre, due to its proximity to the town centre boundary with high possibility of linked trips – both vehicular and pedestrian – between the development site and other uses within the town centre”.
Since then, four applications for amendments to the scheme have been made, including a 2023 call for a discharge of a refuse storage condition and minor changes including a reduction in the building parapet height, the location of the plant, the landscaping scheme and the building elevations.
The latest amendment call seeks a change of use of the external finish to the approved car park block paving from “natural” to “charcoal,” a Ceredigion council officer report for planners states.
It adds: “The reason for the change is that the approved material is no longer available and thus cannot be utilised. The block paving in question relates to the majority of vehicle parking spaces comprised within the approved car park.
“The scale of the changes are not great enough to cause a different impact to what was approved [in 2023], the proposal would not result in a detrimental impact either visually or in terms of local amenity, the interests of third parties or other bodies would not be disadvantaged and finally the proposed changes would not conflict with any national or development plan policies,” the report concludes.
The amendment was approved by officers.
