A CALL for a time extension for plans for housing on the site of a former “blot on the national park” seaside turkey farm has been given the go-ahead.
In an application recommended for delegated approval to senior officers at the June meeting of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park’s development management committee, Mark Chapman, through agent Hayston Developments & Planning Ltd sought permission for a further three years’ time extension for a previously-granted scheme to build four homes at the former turkey farm, on land off Blockett Lane, Little Haven.
The application was before the committee as it was recommended for approval despite the local community council, The Havens, objecting to the scheme, and it being a departure from the local development plan.
The Havens had objected to the scheme on the same grounds it objected to the original 2021 application for four dwellings granted in 2022, saying there was a poor access road, very narrow, with no pavement leading to the village for pedestrian use.
An officer report recommending approval said: “The application site comprises a parcel of brownfield land which historically formed part of a turkey farm complex located to the south of Little Haven. The wider site has been subject to extensive residential redevelopment, with several dwellings completed and others under construction on adjacent land. The site is also subject of a current enforcement notice relating to storage of shipping containers.
“The applicant has advised that development has been delayed due to an ongoing civil dispute relating to access rights, which has prevented commencement within the original timeframe but which the applicant believes to be resolvable.
“As the application is in outline form and seeks only a time extension, there are no changes to the scale, layout, or form of development for assessment at this stage with only indicative plans having been received.”
Speaking at the meeting, agent Andrew Vaughan-Harries of Hayston reiterated it was hoped the civil matter could be addressed to “deliver this important development”.
He added: “The old turkey farm and sheds were a real blot on the national park, on a sensitive spot on the clifftop, a real eyesore.”
He said developments on-site so far had seem them cleared, with the “sensitive development” expected to net up to £90,000 in affordable housing contributions to the authority.
On the community council access concerns, he said: “Perhaps they are newer members who don’t remember a busy turkey farm and its traffic; at the end of the day Little Haven is a pretty little village with narrow roads on all sides.”
Committee chair Cllr Simon Hancock, said committee-viewed aerial pictures of the turkey farm site were “stark” in comparison with its now-cleared state, moving approval, which included some 16 conditions.
Members backed the recommendation of approval.
