News. . . .
September 22nd, 2009
Supermarket planning refused but resubmission likely
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announced that there had been several developments affecting both applications, and that the Lidl application had been withdrawn.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.
Can I respectfully please refer everybody to my recent reply on the “10th September“.
Kind regards, Andy Unett