PLANS for a proposed plumber’s workshop next to the Ceredigion applicants’ previously granted “home for life” have been given a breathing space after councillors agreed to visit the site before making a decision on an officer recommendation for refusal.
At the May 14 meeting of Ceredigion County Council’s development management committee, members were recommended to refuse a request by local plumber Elfyn Tandy to site a stores warehouse building and domestic garage on land adjacent to Blaenllaw, Bethania, near Llanon.
The applicants were previously, in 2021, granted permission for an open market dwelling at the site.
An officer report said the proposed 18.42m by 12.45m building, with a ridge height of 5.7m, would be split between a domestic garage and Mr Tandy’s plumbing business.
One objection had been received, raising concerns with the proposed design, scale, and siting of the proposed development as well as concerns of noise associated with a warehouse.
It was recommended for refusal on the grounds of visual impact “due to is scale, mass and external finishes the building is of an industrial/agricultural which is considered incongruous with the proposed domestic curtilage in which it is sited,” and “,it is considered that the proposed development would have a detrimental impact on the amenity enjoyed by the residents of neighbouring properties”.
Speaking at the May meeting, the applicants Mr Tandy and his wife, a solicitor, said they intended to screen the proposed shed which would be sited near to their already granted “home for life,” and hoped to work with neighbours to reach a solution.
Cllr Maldwyn Lewis said: “We should support people that run local businesses such as this, they need stock and equipment and space for a van, it’s natural they require a building.”
He said it was better – environmentally speaking – for the applicant to be based at home rather than travelling to an industrial estate building in somewhere like Aberystwyth.
Cllr Gareth Lloyd proposed the committee’s Site Inspection Panel attend a site visit before making any decision.
Members agreed to attend a site visit, the application returning to a future committee meeting.
