Report on Cawdor Planning Application W/20805
The purpose of this report is to give a detailed explanation of this controversial planning application and an analysis of why it would be so bad for the town. The report itself was put together by members of the Newcastle Emlyn Action Group, and is based on the most up-to-date information we have.
This document can be downloaded by right clicking and saving here.
One of the main difficulties facing objectors to planning applications like this is the Council’s refusal to publish some of the most important documents, such as its transport and retail impact assessment studies. These studies are used by the Planning Department for its planning reports, but because members of the public do not have access to this information, it is impossible to form a complete and accurate picture of how the Planning Department comes to make its recommendations to the elected Planning Committee.
Carmarthenshire is, it seems, famous for its lack of transparency, and its policy was recently accurately described by one employee of the Planning Department of only publishing what they have to publish by law, instead of taking the more open approach of publishing everything that they are legally permitted to.
So a great deal of digging and hard work has gone into finding out the information in this report, and some of it is shocking.
Background to the Application
The planning application for a supermarket with 11,000 square feet of retail space was submitted in March 2009 to Carmarthenshire County Council by Eiddo Davies Properties, a company owned by Mr Kevin Davies, a local businessman. Agents for Mr Davies are the firm of Owen Banks in Llanelli. Currently the largest store in Newcastle Emlyn is CK’s with 4,000 square feet of retail space.
To explain this in a way which is easier to visualise, if the proposed new supermarket was built in Sycamore Street, it would stretch from the Fedwen bakery to NatWest, and it would have more floor space than all of the existing shops in the town put together.
The Cawdor site currently comprises a filling station, car showroom, workshops, private parking lots used by the Cawdor business, a now empty retail unit, a bungalow, a public car park and quite large areas of natural vegetation extending down to the River Teifi. The public car park was sold by the Davies family to Carmarthenshire County Council in 1985 for £20,000, and the proposed new building would straddle this publicly owned land and land owned by Eiddo Davies Properties.
Coincidentally a second planning application was submitted some five months earlier by Lidl, the discount store, for another site opposite the CK’s supermarket, some 5 minutes’ walk from the centre of town.
Both applications are still pending, and they will both go before the Council’s Planning Committee on 10 September.
Lidl conducted a formal public consultation on its plans, and held several open days in a local hall to enable members of the public to inspect its plans. In the case of the Cawdor application there was no consultation whatsoever, with only one formal notice being displayed publicly, and residents with properties immediately adjoining the site were not advised of the application in writing. Although this may meet minimum legal requirements, many people feel that Carmarthenshire County Council should have been aware of the controversial nature of the proposal and should have insisted on a much more transparent process. Moreover, Mr Davies will not disclose the identity of the supermarket which is interested in his site, claiming that his is merely a speculative application. In a recent radio interview, he did however acknowledge that there was active interest from one or more of the major supermarket groups.
The Lidl application has attracted only 3 objections, according to a local county councillor, whereas the Cawdor development has so far attracted well over 500 formal letters of complaint as well as a petition with over 700 signatures.
An Action Group comprising local residents, trades people and owners of small businesses was formed approximately 4 months ago to fight the Cawdor application when the news leaked out, and it held a couple of Action Days to gather public support and lobby members of the County’s planning committee. Response to the Action Days showed that local people and businesses are overwhelmingly opposed to the Cawdor plan, and the town’s Chamber of Commerce is also strongly opposed to it. The Town Council has belatedly, after several months of indecision, decided to voice its concerns too.
Surveys of Retail Need
Both Lidl and Cawdor have submitted retail impact assessments. The Lidl assessment was prepared by the consultants RPS, and the Council followed this up by commissioning an assessment of its own from Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners. The Cawdor assessment was prepared by the agents Owen Banks, and the Council has also followed this up with a second report commissioned from Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners. The second report is understood to assess what the likely impact on the viability of the town centre would be if both applications were approved.
The Newcastle Emlyn Action Group has had access to three of the reports, but the Council has refused to release the second Nathaniel Lichfield report, citing unspecified legal constraints. The Chamber of Commerce is making a Freedom of Information request to try to obtain publication of the second Nathaniel Lichfield report, but even if the request is successful, it is likely that the Cawdor planning application will be heard sooner. The comments below are therefore based on the Lidl RPS and Nathaniel Lichfield documents, and the Owen Banks assessment.
All of the reports are based on a catchment area with a population of approximately 13,500. This covers a very large area extending from near Synod Inn to Tanygroes near Cardigan, across to Talgarreg and Capel Dewi, taking in Llandysul, down to a point near Cwmduad, and then across a swathe of northern Pembrokeshire to take in communities such as Abercych and Cenarth.
Based on data from sources such as Experien, the reports are fairly close in their estimates, and assume a notional total retail spend on convenience goods for the area of around £23 million p.a., based on the population and a theoretical socio-economic profile.
The reports also agree that the turnover of existing retailers in the catchment area in convenience goods is around £5.5 million p.a., leaving around £18 million ‘leakage’. Lidl’s conclusion is that its projection for its store of £3.5m p.a. is realistic.
The first Nathaniel Lichfield report concludes that there is around £5.5m of retail spend in the area available to support a new convenience goods outlet, assuming 60% ‘structural outflow’ (i.e. spending in centres outside the catchment area which cannot be recaptured locally).
The Owen Banks report, on the other hand, based on the same population figures and overall spend, states that £17.9m is available for a new convenience store, and it projects a turnover for the new supermarket, based on retail floor size, of £12m p.a.
The Newcastle Emlyn Chamber of Commerce has questioned the figures for existing retail outlets and concludes that they are very significantly understated in all of the reports.
For example, the Owen Banks report claims that the Somerfield supermarket has an annual turnover of just £380,000, and it claims turnover for both the Spar stores in Newcastle Emlyn and Drefach Felindre of £0.5m each, whereas the Newcastle Emlyn store achieves more than £1.5m.
The reports also claim a turnover of just £1.8m for the Newcastle Emlyn CK’s “superstore”, whereas the true figure is believed to be around £4.5m.
All of the reports also exclude turnover figures for retail outlets in Llandysul, Cenarth and other centres, although the population figures for those centres are included. CK’s was recently given approval for a new supermarket in Llandysul with a projected turnover of £4m p.a., and Ceredigion has given the green light to a major new supermarket in Cardigan. The Cawdor/Owen Banks report ignores all of this.
The Newcastle Chamber of Commerce estimates that turnover from existing convenience goods outlets in Newcastle Emlyn alone is close to £9m p.a.
In recent conversations involving the Planning Department and the Chamber of Commerce, the Planning Department has made it clear that it regards the Nathaniel Lichfield data as the best information available, that it has been using this source for many years and that it will use the data in its planning report. It has, however, informed Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners that its data has been called into question.
Our concern is that we know that the Owen Banks and Nathaniel Lichfield data is seriously flawed, and that by underestimating existing retail spending in the area and over-estimating the potential spend for the area, any incoming supermarket will have to take at least half its revenue from existing businesses in order to meet the revenue projections set.
The result will be the death of many of the existing businesses in Newcastle Emlyn, which is now sadly one of only a few traditional market towns left with a full range of traditional retail businesses. The town is in fact weathering the current difficult economic climate very well, and many visitors to the town have commented that it is a real pleasure to see a town with so many thriving independent and different shops.
Threat to the Welsh Language
A further factor is the threat to the Welsh language and culture. Many of the retail businesses here are Welsh-speaking, and the destructive impact of a supermarket would result not just in job losses but also businesses which sustain many long-established Welsh-speaking families. Younger people wishing to set up new trading ventures in the town in future will also find it much harder to make a living, and so the net effect will be to undermine the language by depriving local people of business opportunities and leaving only low-skilled and low-paid jobs. Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg agrees with us in this analysis and is offering its active support.
Highways
Most local residents and businesses assumed that the Cawdor plan would fail because of its impact on the public highways, if for no other reason. The roads in and out of Newcastle Emlyn are narrow and already frequently come to a standstill because of the sheer volume of traffic.
The County’s Highways Department commissioned a study of Water Street, which is part of the main road from Cardigan to Carmarthen on 7 and 8 January 2009. This period coincided with a period of exceptionally cold weather with sheet ice on the roads. Sadly one person was seriously injured in town when she slipped on a pavement and fell under an HGV. Consequently there was little traffic on the roads and little use of the public car park which forms a part of the site covered by the application.
The entrance to the Cawdor site is on a stretch of road with no fewer than five junctions within 200 metres, and this route is heavily used by pedestrians and school buses. It is hard to understand how the construction of a busy supermarket with large numbers of cars and delivery vehicles coming in and out could not be seen as posing a serious problem to road safety and traffic flows.
A second study was carried out by a firm of consultants more recently which concluded that articulated lorries would be able to sweep in and out of the site without the need for reversing.
The conclusion of the Highways Department therefore appears to be that the Cawdor development would pose no particular problems for traffic flows and road safety.
In the case of the Lidl development, which would be located opposite the existing CK’s supermarket and a busy builders’ merchants and adjacent to a hardware store and blacksmith’s, the Highways Department concluded that the average traffic speed on this stretch of road was 33mph, and that therefore the development would need visibility extending 90 metres in either direction of the entrance to the store. The speed limit on this road is 30mph, and the visibility requirement for such an area is 70 metres either side of a junction, a requirement met by the Lidl application.
The conclusion of the Highways Department in this case was that the Lidl development does not meet its criteria. Following more discussions between Lidl and the Council, it appears that the Council has now agreed to allow Lidl to pay for traffic calming measures.
However, we now understand that the Council has decided to place further restrictions on Lidl by demanding that they sign a covenant which would prohibit the company from selling to a supermarket group in the future. Lidl is understood to be refusing to give such an undertaking.
From this we feel that the County Council is not treating the two applications in an even-handed way, with the Cawdor application facing very few obstacles and Lidl being asked to jump through more and more hoops.
The Environment
The site itself comprises a petrol station, a car showroom, workshops, a now empty retail unit, a bungalow, a public car park and an area of land adjacent to the River Teifi. Much of this site was formerly a rubbish tip which is known to contain very many old cars and other vehicles. The tip was simply bulldozed over, and it is almost certain that there will be toxic and hazardous waste in the ground. Moreover, the whole site and an area extending well beyond it is known to be geologically unstable. There has been significant subsidence affecting several properties around its periphery, including the Ebenezer Chapel and a row of recently built “affordable” houses.
Planning approval for the construction of more affordable homes on a site very close to the proposed supermarket has also recently been withdrawn because of subsidence problems.
The Countryside Council for Wales has voiced its concerns about this proposed development because it extends to the river. Preparation of the site would require extensive pile driving and might well lead to the release into the river of effluents and toxins from the former rubbish dump. The Teifi is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is one of the most important habitats for otters in the British Isles.
The Council has so far not publicly addressed any of these concerns, and neither does it appear to be taking into consideration the impact a supermarket would have on residents with properties adjoining or very close to the site. Apart from the impact that the development would have on the commercial value of their properties, they would also have to contend with increased levels of air pollution from the traffic, much increased noise levels day and night, and light pollution.
Because Newcastle Emlyn lies in a valley, polluted air often tends to hang around, and it is believed that this may be a reason for the above average incidence of asthma among people living in the town.
A further known problem is the town’s sewage system, which is running at or beyond maximum capacity. Some years ago, the County Council imposed a formal moratorium on new development in Newcastle Emlyn pending an upgrade of the town’s sewage systems. The upgrade was never carried out, but the moratorium expired, and development resumed. Now whenever there is heavy rain, waste water is forced back up the drains in a number of locations within the town, including two places immediately adjacent to the development site.
The Council has responded to these concerns. Welsh Water agreed to carry out remedial work by 1st April 2009, with the Council imposing restrictions on new development leading up to that date. However, the remedial work was again not carried out, and the moratorium was lifted for a second time. Welsh Water has now proposed that it will carry out the work by 1st April 2010, and the Council appears to be considering its response. Their indication is that they may approve applications this year with a condition that occupation does not take place before April 2010.
This clearly does not inspire confidence. We know that at least two previous moratoriums on development were lifted without any improvement to the sewers, and it is not at all clear that this stop-start process will not be repeated.
A large new supermarket and a significantly increased area of tarmac will surely only exacerbate this problem.
Although Carmarthenshire County Council has produced a Sustainability Appraisal and a Strategic Environmental Assessment Scoping Report, we feel that the Council is only paying lip-service to its responsibilities to promoting sustainability.
For such a controversial and major scheme (major in terms of the scale of our small town), we also note with dismay that the new building would not be subject to the new requirements for Planning for Sustainable Buildings, as the application was submitted a few months before the new regulations come into force.
Finally, to grant the application would clearly fly in the face of the Assembly Government’s Sustainable Development Scheme “One Wales: One Planet” published in May 2009.
Conflict of Interest for the County Council
A large part of the site for the proposed development is currently occupied by a council owned public car park. The land for this car park was originally sold by the Davies family to the County Council for £20,000 in 1985.
It was widely believed that Mr Davies had retained the right to repurchase the land used as a public car park. The Action Group has ascertained from a Freedom of Information request that no such right exists, and that Mr Davies has not so far made an offer to repurchase the land.
Since the bulk of the proposed new building would be erected on council-owned land, it is clear that the Council itself has a financial interest in this application. If the application is granted, the value of the car park as a commercial asset would be dramatically increased.
We are aware that it is possible for planning applications to be made for land or property not owned by the applicant, but there is a legal requirement for applicants to give such third parties notice of their intentions. It is therefore inconceivable that the Council was not aware of Mr Davies’s plans well in advance of the application, and it is reasonable to assume that detailed discussions took place between Mr Davies or his agents and senior representatives of the Council in advance of the application being made.
Impact of Proposal on a Wider Area
The success of Newcastle Emlyn as a commercial centre derives in large part from the fact that it has a large rural catchment area and that it lies approximately 10 miles from the nearest major supermarket in Cardigan and 17 miles from Carmarthen. A significant part of the town’s business comes from people living in Ceredigion and the northern part of Pembrokeshire. It also attracts shoppers from villages closer to Lampeter.
The impact of this proposal therefore extends well beyond Carmarthenshire and will be felt by businesses in Cardigan, Llandysul and communities spread across an arc extending up to Lampeter and down towards Carmarthen.
Public Controversy within the Region
The Cawdor application has attracted a considerable amount of media attention, with articles appearing in the Carmarthen Journal, Tivey-Side Advertiser and Cambrian News. There has also been coverage of the dispute on Radio Cymru, S4C and BBC Wales, and recently it was featured as a discussion point on the popular Radio Cymru current affairs phone-in Taro’r Post.
In addition to Mark Williams MP, we have spoken to Adam Price MP and Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM in whose constituencies the proposed development would be, both of whom support our opposition to the application.
Bearing in mind the small size of Newcastle Emlyn and the low size of the population of the surrounding area, a proposal which has attracted over 500 formal letters of objection and over 700 petition signatures is, according to local councillors, unprecedented, and is surely ample evidence of the controversial nature of the scheme.
Conclusion
The Cawdor application is based on a badly flawed business case. It ignores major new developments in Cardigan and Llandysul; it overestimates the amount of retail spending available; and it massively underestimates the turnover of existing businesses. The only way a new supermarket could succeed would be by grabbing a huge slice of trade from local shops. That means that far from creating new jobs, local families and business people would lose jobs and the livelihoods that their businesses provide.
The transport report that we have seen also creates a very false impression and underplays the problems that the new supermarket would cause. The Council’s own report has not been published but is believed to conclude that there would be no problem.
It is still unknown what, if anything, the Council has done to research the impact on the environment, apart from a bat survey. There are no bats, it seems, but there are otters in the river along with lots of other protected wildlife. It seems that no surveys have been done to assess the damage that would be done to their habitats. Noise, air and light pollution affecting the people of the town would also seem not to be a factor for the Council. As for all the talk about sustainability and the wider environment, you can probably safely conclude that the Council’s approach is greenwash.
There is a significant conflict of interest for the Council in the Cawdor proposal since the Council would be able to sell the car park at a huge profit; that the Council is not creating a level playing field by ensuring that all stakeholders have access to the same information; and we feel that its markedly different treatment of the Cawdor and Lidl applications demonstrate that the Council is not being even-handed.
No doubt all will be revealed when the Planning Department publishes its planning report on 4 September.
This letter is signed by seven representatives of the Newcastle Emlyn Action Group and the Newcastle Emlyn Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the hundreds of local residents, visitors and trades people who oppose the Cawdor application.
Yours sincerely
Nicky Cross (Resident)
Roger Ladbrook (Resident)
Siân Lloyd (Resident)
David Rose Parkin (Resident)
Barry Rogers (Chair of the Newcastle Emlyn Chamber of Commerce and Proprietor of GS News)
Dr Timothy Swann MIET (Resident)
Richard Vale (Resident and Director of Blasus Cyf)
Please note that any correspondence should be sent to the following address:
Richard Vale, Tŷ’r Ehedydd, Heol Ffinant, Newcastle Emlyn, SA38 9HZ
Tel. 01239 711653
e-mail: richard_vale1@yahoo.com