AN application for 26 homes to be built on land at Goodwick Industrial Estate has been approved by Pembrokeshire County Council’s Planning Committee.
The homes have been designated for over 55s and there will also be a requirement for the homes to be used as a primary residence.
24 of the 26 homes would be two bedroom homes with the other two being one bedroom homes while 14 of the 26 would have a ramp.
The developers have also been asked to make a contribution to affordable housing and a legal agreement will also need to be finalised.
The homes would also be partially built on land which had previously been designated as ’employment use’ but the committee heard how there had been previous approval for homes to be built on that land in 2006.
At the Committee meeting on Tuesday (Jul 26), Cllr John Cole was concerned about the homes being used as holiday homes but he was told that there was a condition which said the houses should be a primary residence.
The local member, Cllr Nicola Gwynn, said she was ‘conflicted’, stating that houses were needed but that she had ‘reservations’ about the park homes.
She said: “I’ve heard what the presentation has said about it not being out of character for the area because the site looks a mess anyway but I don’t think the park home mock-up that was shown was particularly inspiring, it looks a bit like a caravan park.”
Cllr Mark Carter asked about the affordable home contribution, stating that as the homes would be relatively low value, would they not be classed as affordable homes.
Mr David Popplewell told the committee that they were not of the view that these would constitute affordable homes as although they were not the same value they would still be market properties.
Cllr Carter then moved the application for approval and Cllr Brian Hall seconded.
Cllr Alistair Cameron was concerned that they would be losing some employment land and asked if that was considered as a risk?
Mr Popplewell added that there was an approval in 2006 for a residential development. At that time the old Dewhirst factory was still on site but developers chose to demolish it.
He also added that there was another parcel of land allocated for employment use which would be available.
Cllr Aaron Carey asked if the park homes could potentially affect plans for a factory being built on the employment land in future, adding that some residents wouldn’t want a factory being built next to them
Mr Popplewell said that the site was already in close proximity to Goodwick Industrial Estate and added that there wouldn’t be any additional adverse impact.
Having listened to the debate, Cllr Gwynn voted for approval and the application was approved unanimously.
Delegated authority was also given for the application to be approved once the legal agreement is finalised.
