A young Scarlets player who hoped to build a three-bedroom house on land owned by his family near Cross Hands has been told he can't. Tom Rogers applied to Carmarthenshire Council to build the house in open countryside, which is generally prohibited, on the basis of local needs and affordability policy exceptions.
During a council planning committee debate lasting over an hour, planning officer John Thomas said the application had not established the required exception criteria to build in the countryside, and added: "There are so many flaws in this application - it's like holding water in a colander."
Mr Thomas said Mr Rogers's agent - a former Carmarthenshire Council planning officer - would have been aware of the various supporting evidence required, such as the applicant's or his partner's income, to help justify an exception.
