Ceredigion Beulah rural dwelling scheme backed at committee

In an application recommended for refusal at the September meeting of Ceredigion County Council’s development management committee, Daniel Morris and Elin Adams-Lewis sought permission for a TAN 6 rural enterprise dwelling and associated shed and yard at Penrhiwdulais Brongest, Beulah.

It had previously been recommended for refusal at the July meeting, but a decision was deferred pending a site visit.

A previous application for a TAN 6 dwelling with an associated shed and yard was refused by the committee back in late 2024.

Beulah Community Council has supported the latest application, saying the applicants are both local and contribute to the rural economy, giving a vital service to the agricultural industry.

An officer report recommending refusal said: “The application seeks full planning permission for a rural enterprise dwelling and an associated shed and yard to support the applicant’s business, D M Agri Services. The proposed dwelling is a single‑storey 137sqm property finished in painted render, feature stonework, a natural slate roof and PV panels, with aluminium/uPVC openings.”

Comparing the scheme with the previously-refused one, it said: “The previous application sought permission for a dwelling and associated yard linked to the applicant’s father’s business, Huw Morris Plant Hire, based at [nearby] Gobaith.

“The physical form of development now proposed is largely unchanged. The main difference is the dwelling, which has been reduced to a 137sqm. The siting and scale of the shed, yard and access remain materially the same. The key change between the two submissions lies in the business case presented.”

It added: “This shift—from seeking a second dwelling on an established enterprise to supporting a newly formed standalone enterprise—forms the central distinction from the earlier application.”

It was recommended for refusal on the basis that it did not meet the TAN 6 criteria, and “does not demonstrate that the business requires this countryside location, that a full‑time worker must live on the site, or that suitable accommodation elsewhere is unavailable,” and it “would introduce a visually intrusive and suburbanising form of development that would materially harm the landscape character of this prominent rural setting”.

At the September meeting, Cllr Gareth Lloyd said the scheme “ticks every box” except having to live on site, adding he was minded to move approval of scheme against officer recommendations.

Follow committee member Cllr Ifan Davies said: “Rural communities need to grow, the applicant has shown a commitment to start his own business, I think we should give him an opportunity to site a new business on his own site."

Head of planning for Ceredigion Russell Hughes-Pickering warned any support of the scheme would represent a significant departure from policy, which would take the form of a ‘minded to’ approval which would invoke a ‘cooling off’ period, the application returning to a future meeting for a final consideration.

Members backed a ‘minded to’ approval on that basis.