PLANS have for a new home in Llandysul have been refused.

Chris Marks submitted a planning application to Carmarthenshire County Council to build a ‘local needs dwelling’ with a detached garage and ancillary works on land next to Brynmair, Bancyffordd, Llandysul.

It would have seen 0.10 hectares of agricultural land turned into the property, which would have been made with stonework and stone effect render walls, slate roof, aluminium and UPVC composite windows and doors, stock fencing and new hedge banks with perimeter shrubs and small trees for the boundary, permable tarmac for the vehicle access and hard standing and exterior security or decorative lights, which would be less than 3m from the ground and fitted with hoods to direct the light below the horizontal plane and lighting would be passive infrared triggered.

The home would have been a two-storey building, with a lounge, sitting room, home office, kitchen/dining area and utility room on the ground floor, and four double-bedrooms, and en-suite and bathroom on the first floor.

A supporting statement said: “The applicant appreciates that current planning policy restricts the development in locations such as this. However, this is considered to be an exceptional circumstance where high value community members would be integrated back into the community. Applicants of this quality need to be considered positively by the LPA to ensure young, Welsh speaking professionals can return to their area of birth and contribute positively to the community.”

On August 7, the council refused the planning permission for three reasons. The first reason is that insufficient information was submitted to demonstrate that the applicant meets a genuine identified local need, meaning the proposal would be against policy AH3 of the Carmarthenshire local development plan.

The second reason is the site for the development in the countryside where there ‘is a presumption against new residential development unless in exceptional circumstances.’ The council stated the proposed site does not represent a ‘sensitive infill of an otherwise continuous built up frontage nor does it constitute a minor extension and as such development of the site would result in a sporadic, fragmented and disjointed pattern of residential development that would be harmful to the rural character and appearance of the area.’

The reason also stated that the scale of the property and related residential curtilage are not considered compatible with an affordable dwelling that would be available to low or moderate income groups. The refusal letter states: “As such, it is considered that the proposal would constitute inappropriate and intrusive rural development that would be harmful to visual amenity, the character and appearance of the countryside and at odds with the principles of sustainable development, contrary to Policies SP1, SP14, GP1 and AH3 of the adopted Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan (2014).”

The third reason is that the proposal would go against the protection and enhancement of the natural environment policy (SP14) of the Carmarthenshire local development plan because the site is within the catchment area of the River Teifi, a designated special area of conservation, which means any site in the catchment area has to ‘demonstrate phosphate neutrality or betterment in its design and/or its contribution to the water body.’ The council stated the application has insufficient information to allow for a Habitats Regulation Assessment to be undertaken and therefore fails to demonstrate that the phosphates within the wastewater associated with the proposed development would not have any adverse impact on the River Teifi’s water quality.