Newcastle Emlyn and Adpar / Castell Newydd Emlyn ac Adpar

Newcastle Emlyn Town Council held an extraordinary meeting on Thursday, 17 December, to discuss the resubmitted Cawdor supermarket planning application, and there was a slight air of Groundhog Day hanging over the proceedings, as a similar meeting was held back in the early part of the summer to discuss the first application.

There was once again a large turnout by members of the public, including the developer himself, Kevin Davies, and his agent, Stuart Banks.

This time round, five members of the public had applied to address the meeting, and they were called in turn by the Mayor.

Barry Rogers, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, spoke first and pointed out some of the inconsistencies and inaccurate figures contained in the retail impact assessment which accompanies the application. For example, the report claims that Somerfield has a turnover of £380,000 per year and that it could afford to lose £1.7m of this and still survive to make way for a new supermarket.

Richard Vale highlighted concerns over the geology report, stating that the surveyors had not been made aware of old rubbish dumps on the site. The risk was contamination of the river when work started, and he said further work need to be carried out on the old tannery site to ensure that no anthrax was present.

The well-known instability of the site meant that a great deal of pile driving would be needed to stabilise the slope leading down to the river and to build the supermarket itself. The report showed that 150 piles would have to be driven, some to depths of about 100 feet, and that there was a risk of damage to surrounding buildings, as well as the prospect of residents and businesses in a large area having to endure weeks of thudding.

Tim Swann spoke about the transport assessment, which he said was deficient in a number of important aspects. It was clear that traffic calming measures would be necessary on the A484 to reduce speeds to 20mph, and the report entirely ignored the impact on the wide road network.

Helen Hatt spoke about the character of Newcastle Emlyn and its appeal to residents and visitors alike A new supermarket would destroy more than it would bring, she felt.

Finally, Kevin Davies spoke, claiming that without a supermarket, Newcastle Emlyn would lose out to other towns in the area. Once again he compared Newcastle Emlyn with Lampeter, which he said was thriving despite having two supermarkets.

Mr Davies said he could not understand why objectors kept claiming that the new convenience store would be nearly three times the size of CK’s in Newcastle Emlyn. A store that size simply would not fit onto the site. [Editor’s note: People may have become confused by reading Mr Davies’s planning application, which states that the sales area of the new store will be 1066sq. metres and that CK has a sales area of 400sq.metres. Similarly people may have become confused by a recent press interview with Mr Davies in which he gave the impression that the proposed development would double the number of car parking spaces in town. His application form says that the number of spaces in the Cawdor car park will rise from 65 to 114.]

The councillors then began their meeting, with Councillor Maureen Webley stating that the proposed development was out of scale with the rest of the town and not in character with the town centre.

Councillor Hazel Evans said she had received many representations from people opposed to the development, and was also concerned about discrepancies in the application about how many parking spaces there would be.

Councillors Alan Jones and Alan Davies both said they had spoken to people in favour of the supermarket.

The Mayor proposed that the Council send a modified version of their previous letter setting out their comments to the County Council. Councillor Alan Jones said he had nothing further to say. He evidently disagreed with fellow councillors’ criticisms of the plan, as did Councillor Alan Davies.

After further discussion, it was decided that a new letter should be drafted, and the Mayor went through a list of material considerations for objecting to a planning application. He also read a list of considerations which are not valid objections, including the morals of the developer, at which point there were audible sniggers from the public.

Councillor Hazel Evans argued strongly that the Council should send a representative to the Planning Meeting in Carmarthen, and that it was important for the town and its council to raise their profile and try to win back some of the influence and authority which has been lost to the County Council.

The meeting then closed.

In the recently re-submitted application for a supermarket on the Cawdor site, there is a long and detailed geological survey which makes for interesting reading.

As many local people will know, the site, and the stretch of land east of there, is very unstable. One of the main findings of the new Cawdor survey is that a great deal of work will be needed to shore up parts of the site, particularly where it meets the very steep slope going down to the river. The supermarket itself will require a lot of pile driving, and the authors of the report warn that great care will be needed not to cause further instability and damage to surrounding properties.

Subsidence on the Glanteifi flats site close to the proposed Cawdor supermaket site
Click photo for larger image

One of the most interesting aspects of the report deals with the history of the site, and it seems that much of the information was provided by Cawdor employees. Unfortunately, it seems that they forgot or did not know about a few rather worrying things.

Older residents will tell you that parts of the site were used as a rubbish tip, and that the tip itself was simply bulldozed flat before being covered in tarmac. The Cawdor report makes no reference to this.

The report does however deal with the old tannery which was a part of the site, and some investigation was carried out to try to find any remains or anthrax spores. None were found, but then it seems they weren’t looking in the right place.

The upshot of all this is that the site is a geological nightmare for any potential builder, and parts of it are almost certainly heavily contaminated.

So here is a more reliable version of recent local history…….

“The tannery operated up to WW1 and was situated where the two houses in Tanyard Lane now are, behind and to the side of them, and the leather was delivered through the tiny house next to no 2 Sunnyside, through to the back which is basically where Cawdor’s ‘pound’ now is.

The site of the carpark beyond and behind this was used as a dump for old vehicles, old fridges/freezers, etc.

The site of the old GC motor factors premises had petrol pumps, and the 2nd Cawdor pound in front of the bungalow to be demolished was used as a tip by the Cawdor Hotel who until approximately 1948 also ran a general transport business, which consisted mainly of milk lorries (14 or so) which eventually got moved out to the milk factory in Aberarad. So can you imagine what must be under there with the combination of hotel waste, petrol, milk slurry, transport rubbish etc. (The local children apparently used to go and shoot rats there!).

There is a maze of waterways under the site, left and right. The stream ran down Penlon Hill under the houses, to a gulley (now filled) where the new houses are and diverted upstream to land owned still by Dewi Davies. (These are on ‘yellow’ clay and apparently they recently had to pile drive 90ft to secure them, as 60′ was not enough) The Cawdor site and hotel are on ‘blue’ clay – water was also diverted under Glynest to Graig Street (there is apparently a well in No 1) But of course over the years any number of ‘breaks’ could have occurred.”

The last point about water courses is also taken up in the surveyors report, which says that the stream appears to have been filled in over the years, and it believes that in places there may be as much as 6 metres of rubble under the tarmac. No traces of a supposed culvert were found, but Cawdor staff believe one does exist. In the meantime, it seems, that water from the stream has built up into a kind of underground reservoir as it tries to find its way into the river. This helps make an already unstable site even more unpredictable.

The Cawdor supermarket planning application has been resubmitted.

Cleverly it has been done in one of the 2 months of the year (August and December) when the Town Council does not meet. Comments have to be submitted by 24th December – Christmas Eve.

To download and view the plans go to Carmarthenshire Planning website.

If you want to send a link to the above page to someone else, simply copy and paste this address

http://tinyurl.com/yhfyy4r

into an email.

You can download all 35 planning documents in Zipped up by right clicking this link and choosing “save as”. (30 Megabyte file)

If you wish to write to Carmarthenshire County Council or County Councillors regarding this application number W/22109, here are some useful addresses:

• Planning committee Sir Gar
• Local Councillors
• People to Write To

Click for larger version

Been to Carmarthen recently? I spent a few hours traipsing around the shops there last Friday doing a bit of Christmas shopping, and it was pretty depressing. Not long ago, King Street was a lively, interesting place full of small shops, but every time I go back there I notice that a few more have gone.

The Myrddin Bakery has closed, the old department store which until recently was selling bargain furniture is now just a black gaping hole. What was a nice shopping street is now becoming a rat-run that you just want to get through as quickly as possible.

There are a few nice little shops left, of course, but speak to the shopkeepers, and you will hear that their business is being dragged down by the air of decay which is taking over.

Carry on through Nott Square and head down the hill, and you will see that the store which took over from Woolies is having a closing down sale. Head towards Marks and Spencer’s, and you will see more and more mobile phone shops.

The centre of Carmarthen is shifting away from the old historic streets with their picturesque buildings and small, locally owned businesses towards a concrete, steel and glass jungle full of all the big name stores you will find in any other town in Britain, and of course they will soon be joined by Debenham’s.

Carmarthen was not blitzed by the Luftwaffe; it was destroyed by Carmarthenshire County Council instead, and it seems they will not rest until they have succeeded in turning Carmarthen into a carbon copy of Croydon or Luton.

If you read the Council’s report on the Cawdor supermarket application in Newcastle Emlyn, you will see that they bang on and on about something called the “sequential test”. This policy means that they are supposed to give preference to retail developments in historic town centres. If you took the Council at its word, you would think that this policy was holy writ, but when you think about any of the larger towns in Carmarthenshire, you are left wondering when the Council has ever applied it. Are Tescos, Morrisons or Aldi within walking distance of the town centre in Carmarthen? Has anyone ever managed to walk from the centre of town to Morrisons and lived to tell the tale? What about Llanelli?

If small, local businesses didn’t have enough to cope with, the Council is now launching a new attack on them with a fatwa against “unauthorised” A-boards. Shops which put out an A-board advertising their products will have their boards confiscated and be given a bill for the cost of removal.

Who is behind this? Step forward our very own Councillor Haydn Jones, Carmarthenshire’s equivalent of environment minister, siding again with the big guns against local businesses. His main concern, he says, is the safety of pedestrians. Presumably that was not one of his main considerations when he sat on the planning committee which gave Tescos the go-ahead to build its new superstore.

Richard Vale

The King George V Playing Field Association of Newcastle Emlyn is delighted to report that its annual Bonfire & Firework Extravaganza at the town’s castle ruins has netted another £900 in funds to be spent on the new playground.

The Association committee has also now received the £4,000 CAVS grant money it was awarded over the summer, meaning that the next piece of equipment, the Aeroskate, for older children can now be installed. This is expected to be installed by spring at the latest (see picture).

A high, robust ‘sports net’ is also planned for around the basketball/sports wall area, to prevent balls going into the sports club grounds, or into the car park, and to prevent children climbing over the existing fence and causing injury or damage.

The long-term future of the committee remains in jeopardy, however, due to dwindling numbers. The committee must have a minimum of eight official members, and there must be at least four members in attendance at every meeting. At the AGM in January, the committee is likely to lose three of its existing members, including the treasurer and secretary, due to other commitments. Unless new members join in the meantime, the Association may have to fold, threatening the future development of the park.

THE AEROSKATE – TO GO IN SOON

“The Playing Field is financed entirely by charitable donations,” notes Sue Tabbitt, who joined the committee at the AGM in January 2008. “Neither the county council nor the Newcastle Emlyn town council contribute towards it, so it is down to us to do and pay for everything from insurance to litter picking.”

It costs the committee around £3,000 a year just to keep the playing field ticking over, including insurance premiums, grass cutting, litter picking and refuse collection. Each time new equipment is installed, there is the cost of labour and safety matting, in addition to the equipment itself. The new Aeroskate equipment is costing over £6,500, while the new sports netting will cost over £2,000.

“It would be a great shame if we lost momentum now, so we are appealing for any passionate parents, or other committed community members, to come forward and join the committee,” says Drikje Vingerhoet, the committee’s current chair.

Monthly meetings now take place at 8pm on the first Tuesday of every month at the Coopers Arms pub near CKs. All are welcome.

To contact the committee, call 07814 243054 or email:

Newcastle Emlyn Town Council has launched its own website at

www.newcastleemlyntowncouncil.gov.uk

The site contains the Agendas & Minutes of Town Council Meetings, plus Council Documents, including news from the Town Enhancement Sub-Committee, the King George V Playing Field Committee plus organisations and local attractions.

New Town Council website

We visited NCE recently and can’t wait to come back. A superstore would be a carbunkle in this beautiful, vibrant town. We live in Windsor and think that NCE is a far superior place to visit & shop!!

NCE councillors – please do not allow your jewel of a town to be ruined. We also visited Cardigan during our visit and the less said about that the better. Cardigan is a town made for Lidl and Aldi.

See you again soon NCE!!

Wayne Farnworth, Old Windsor, Berkshire

Dear Sir,

I hesitate to complain about the service given by a fellow trader in Newcastle Emlyn. We all, from time to time, make mistakes or errors of judgment but I hope that we traders in NCE try to minimise these errors in order to maintain our good reputation.

I was most disappointed with my daughter’s experience of the local hotel.

When she arrived late afternoon there was no hot water and no heating. My daughter was told that they were aware of the problem and that an engineer would have it fixed later that evening. This was in fact done. Portable means of heating were not available.

On peeling back her bed she was dismayed to find that the duvet cover was soiled. A young member of staff was sent to change the cover and did so but only with the help of my daughter. In addition, Victoria, who is a seasoned international traveller, found it exceedingly aggravating and unprofessional not to be able to make or receive telephone calls in her room.

Furthermore according to my daughter the building works which she was aware of, started much earlier in the morning than the management had led her to believe would be the case. My daughter had words with the owner manager and left it to Dad to go and settle the bill. To compensate for these ‘inconveniences’ the management offered a £10 reduction on a £100 account. I declined this inadequate gesture and I hope that my minor protest will spur the new owners into ensuring similar situations to do not occur for other visitors to the town.

I do hope that the current owners will take on board this criticism. Too many pies and not enough fingers leads to a lack of control and complacency is never good for any business.

John Latter
Newcastle Emlyn

Contrary to reports you may have read in the local press, Carmarthenshire County Council has again adjourned a decision on the Lidl application for the Castle Motors site opposite CK’s in Newcastle Emlyn. The planning officers apparently have no further objections to this application, and it may be approved as early as the November meeting of the Planning Committee.

The Lidl application attracted only 4 objections from the public, and at least one of these came from the rival Cawdor camp.

Work on a new Cawdor application is understood to be progressing, although it seems increasingly unlikely that this will be decided until early 2010. The main change expected in the new plans is the re-siting of the proposed supermarket building away from the river to a site next to the houses in Tanyard Lane.

Newcastle Emlyn Supermarkets – D-Day No.1

The Planning Committee of Carmarthenshire County Council met today (22 September 2009) to decide on the planning applications for the Cawdor and Castle Motors sites. To nobody’s surprise, the Cawdor application was rejected on the advice of the Planning Officer, while the fate of the Lidl application on the Castle Motors site remains unclear.

Earlier in the day the councillors on the Planning Committee visited Newcastle Emlyn to inspect the two sites, starting with Castle Motors. They walked from there along the main road and saw at first hand the dramatic subsidence affecting the stretch of land between Barry Evans’ workshop and Cawdor. A small group of objectors met them outside the Cawdor garage and again in Sycamore Street carrying placards and banners.

At the meeting itself the Head of Planning announced that there had been several developments affecting both applications, and that the Lidl application had been withdrawn. After a great deal of confusion, this turned out not to be the case, and in the end a decision on this application was deferred. It seems, however, that the applicants have finally managed to address the Council’s concerns over road safety, but the Planning Officers again strongly hinted that they would prefer a development at the Cawdor site.

Richard Vale then spoke as a member of the Newcastle Emlyn Action Group. He pointed out that the planning report did not address the major concerns which local people have about this planning application, in particular the economic impact on the town, the scale of the development and the impact on traffic and the environment.

He pointed out that the various retail assessments produced by the applicant and the Council itself were confused and often contradictory. In particular, estimates of current trading levels in the town and surrounding area were massively below actual levels, which means that the only way the Cawdor supermarket can work is by taking a huge slice of business from local stores. That will in turn mean job losses and the loss of local businesses. This would in turn have a negative impact on the Welsh language, as the economic basis for this largely Welsh-speaking town would be undermined.

He went on to point out that the Council owns a large part of the proposed site, in the shape of the car park, so that without the willing cooperation of the Council no supermarket could be built on the site. Perhaps there was scope for a development more sympathetic to the needs of the town.

Vale pointed out that the planning report completely ignores the chronic traffic problems affecting Sycamore Street and College Street, and concentrates only on the junction of Tanyard Lane with the A484. Planning policy stipulates that the impact on the road network should be assessed.

Next to speak was Mr Geraint John, a consultant from the firm of Savills representing some of the town’s traders. Mr John’s main argument was that the applicant had failed to assess the economic impact on the town and he requested that this be added to the list of reasons for rejecting the proposal.

Mr Peter Lewis, Mayor of Newcastle Emlyn, was next to speak. He read a very impressive statement which emphasised the depth of opposition to the scheme from the people of the town. He said he had never before encountered so much opposition to a planning application.

Councillor Haydn Jones followed with a speech which described the attractions of the town before adding that it was difficult to stand in the way of progress, and that on balance he could not make a recommendation either way.

Mr Stuart Owen, speaking for the applicant, Mr Kevin Davies, tried to counter the arguments of the Newcastle Emlyn Action Group by saying that Nathaniel Lichfield and Partnership, the company which produced two reports recommending the Cawdor supermarket for the Council, was a respected national company, and he saw no reason to question its figures.

Some of the councillors then asked questions. One was concerned by the impact on car parking; another was worried that the identity of the Cawdor supermarket was not known. Councillor Emlyn Dole expressed particular concern that the figures in the retail impact assessments did not seem to be correct, while another expressed concern about the impact on the Welsh language.

In reply, the Head of Planning, Mr Eifion Bowen, said that he was not aware of any way of assessing the impact on the language in situations like this. He suggested that the councillors might like to decide whether or not to add the lack of a proper economic impact assessment to the reasons for refusing the proposal.

Somehow in the ensuing muddle, the Planning Committee decided to refuse the application, but seems to have overlooked the issue of the economic impact being added to the reasons for refusal.

Cawdor is now expected to re-submit the proposal, with the site of the supermarket being moved up towards the houses in Tanyard Lane and off the Council car park. The earliest a new application could come before the Council is November, but it may well slip into early 2010.

We will keep you posted.