THE FINAL sign-off for an estate of 91 houses in a Pembrokeshire town, more than 40 per cent of them affordable, has been given the go-ahead by county planners.
In an application approved at the December meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, Wales & West Housing Association sought permission for 91, one, two, three and four-bedroomed homes on land to the north of Adams Drive and to the west of Bloomfield Gardens, Narberth.
28 affordable homes are proposed, along with 12 houses as Low-Cost Home Ownership Units, the remaining 51 homes for open market sale, the meeting hearing the affordable units would have a local letting policy.
Agent Asbri Planning Ltd, in a supporting statement, said: “The design led approach will create a high-quality place, that sensitively sits within the site retained wildlife corridors and positively connects to the community of Narberth.”
It added: “The development of a mixed tenure site for different types of homes will cater for a variety of local people. These include first-time buyers, growing families looking to move up the property ladder, those looking for bungalows or to downsize for their retirement.
“As indicated approximately half of the homes proposed will be for social rent or offered for sale as part of a discounted home ownership scheme for local people who want to buy their own home but cannot afford the high cost of houses in Narberth.”
The discounted sale properties will be delivered via Wales & West Housing’s ‘Own Home Cymru’ scheme which helps buyers with a local connection to purchase a home of their own at 70 per cent of market value without the need for a deposit.
Narberth Town Council has raised concerns about site access and the ability of the town’s infrastructure to cope with the additional homes.
Some 16 letters of concern were also received by planners, issues including site access concerns and safety, the traffic should be more equally split between the two sites, and the scheme exacerbating gridlock conditions already experienced on the town centre one-way system.
The application was conditionally backed with delegated powers given to the head of planning to approve subject to conditions including a Section 106 legal agreement.
That agreement has now been secured, conditions including the provision of affordable housing in perpetuity and the implementation of a local lettings policy, a financial contribution to mitigate the impact of development on primary education provision and one towards off-site play space provision; with full planning conditionally approved.
Narberth was featured in The Sunday Times 2023 Best Places to Live Guide, where it was described as having “a town centre that punches far above its weight”.
