A housebuilder is to reapply for planning permission for a new estate in Llangennech after it said a legal agreement to provide affordable homes couldn't be signed in time. Haywood Homes Ltd wants to build 30 homes on a field by Llangennech RFC on Pontarddulais Road.
Carmarthenshire Council turned down an application submitted in September 2020 because of a lack of an agreement for affordable homes and a financial contribution towards education. Haywood Homes said an agreement had been reached but that it couldn't be signed due to the death of the landowner, who was required to sign it. The company said it would reapply for planning consent in due course.
A design and access statement submitted as part of the 2020 application said the three and four-bed houses, opposite the Parc Morlais estate, would have been set back from the main road and that trees and hedgerows on the perimeter would have been retained.
Read more: Tiny puppies dumped in bag and left for dead at Welsh country park
Environment body Natural Resources Wales said it had significant concerns about the application and recommended that it should only be approved if planning conditions relating to flood risk and a construction environmental management plan were attached. Carmarthenshire Council's planning ecologist also recommended planning conditions.
The rugby club said it didn't object in principle but pointed out that it had floodlights for training sessions, cheering spectators on match days and that balls may occasionally be booted into the new properties.
Llangennech Community Council objected, saying the village had been overdeveloped. Two letters of objection were submitted by residents who said road congestion in the vicinity would be made considerably worse if the houses were built. One of them, Amy Taylor, said it could take up to 20 minutes to reach the junction of Pontarddulais Road and the main A4138 around 300 yards away. She added: "Also, the field in question is very wet most of the year and during heavy rainfall the road becomes flooded."
The field is very close to the Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries special area of conservation, the Burry Inlet special protection area, and the Burry Inlet and Loughor Estuary site of special scientific interest.
READ NEXT:
The 80-year-old man working until 2am every night to clean Wales' trains
The secluded Welsh lake surrounded by mountains that's well worth the drive
Valleys pub boss taken to court for swapping Smirnoff vodka with different brand
Forensic specialists investigate human remains found in woodland on residential street
Find out about great places to live near you:
