A CALL for a two-year period of grace to test a previously-refused Pembrokeshire dog exercise area has again been turned down by planners.

In a resubmitted application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park after a 2025 refusal, Lawson and Penny Owen, through agent Hayston Developments & Planning Ltd, sought retrospective permission for a farm diversification scheme for a dog exercise area with a small hardstanding area for parking on land near Williamston Farm, Long Lane, Broad Haven, near Haverfordwest.

The previously-refused scheme sought a permanent seasonal exercise area, the latest application seeking a temporary two-year year-round option so that the impact of dog exercise on agricultural land could be fully assessed.

That application was refused on the grounds it was not considered to be sited in a sustainable location which will assist in removing the need for private motor vehicle trip generation, and the potential impact on neighbours.

Local community council The Havens again objected to the latest application, objections including it too close to neighbouring residential properties resulting in unacceptable noise impacts, is incompatible with the adjoining agricultural use, and is located adjacent to a cycle route.

A supporting statement said: “It is clear that, whilst the whole of the field has been operating as a dog exercise area for the past two years, staff in Public Protection have not received any complaints in respect of noise or any other form of objection. As a result of additional information gained from [the previous application], this re-submission sets out to explore a suggested temporary two-year option so that the impact of dog exercise on agricultural land can be fully assessed.”

It said the applicants, who have some 400 acres spread across four farms in the Broad Haven/Nolton area have had a need to diversify, with previous activities including holiday lets, a weddings/summer cinema show venue, and a submitted planning application for nine holiday units.

It said the non-framing activities amounted to under a third of the applicants’ income, the dog exercise operation now foreseen to be some five per cent of income, at up to £20,000 per year.

An officer report recommending refusal said that, as with previous application, objections had been received; concerns including it being in an unsustainable countryside location, noise and disturbance to neighbouring residential properties, disturbance to grazing livestock, and concerns the proposal relies entirely on private motor vehicle journeys and conflicts with sustainable transport objectives.

The report said that while many planning matters could be addressed, they didn’t outweigh the principal policy objections that it had not been demonstrated the particular location was needed or it accords with the sustainable transport objectives [of planning policy], representing “an unsustainable form of development within the open countryside”.

It also said officers were of the view “that the proximity of the commercial dog exercise area to neighbouring residential properties would give rise to an unacceptable impact upon residential amenity through noise and associated activity”.

It concluded: “The proposed temporary two-year permission does not overcome these fundamental planning objections. The use has already operated for a significant period, enabling the Authority to assess the proposal on its planning merits, and a temporary consent would not resolve the inherent conflict with the adopted Development Plan.”

The resubmitted application was refused on the grounds highlighted in the officer report.

A SOUTH Pembrokeshire caravan park’s call to be allowed to keep site works completed without permission nearly a decade ago has been given the thumbs-up by the national park.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Richard Shannon, through agent Gerald Blain Associates Ltd, sought permission for a certificate of lawfulness for the retrospective siting of a waste treatment plant for the Windmills Caravan Park, Narberth Road, Tenby.

An application for a certificate of lawfulness allows an applicant to stay at or keep a development if they can provide proof of occupancy or use over a prolonged period.

A supporting statement accompanying the application said the plant was installed back in summer 2018, providing a receipt of purchase and an invoice for the installation works, 2018 Aerial imagery showing ground disturbance in the location where the tank is installed as well as other photographic evidence.

“Together, this evidence clearly demonstrates that the development was carried out and substantially completed in 2018 and has remained in situ since that date,” the statement said.

An officer report recommending the certificate of lawfulness be granted said Windmills Caravan Park is an established holiday caravan park located on Old Narberth Road, approximately two kilometres north of Tenby, occupying a sizeable rural site with static caravans, internal access roads, ancillary infrastructure and areas of open grassland.

Of the certificate call, it said: “The application relates to a package sewage treatment plant located within the south-eastern corner of the caravan park, adjacent to an established hedgerow and mature tree belt.

“The treatment plant is predominantly underground, with only limited above-ground features visible, including inspection chambers, ventilation equipment and associated control apparatus. The location was selected to serve the existing caravan park whilst remaining discreetly positioned within the wider site and benefiting from natural screening provided by the surrounding vegetation.”

In respect of the submitted information accompanying the application, it said: “As the application was submitted in 2026, the development has been in place for well in excess of the four-year enforcement period and is therefore immune from enforcement action. Accordingly, the Local Planning Authority is satisfied that the development is lawful for the purposes of Section 191 of the Act, and a Certificate of Lawfulness should be issued.”

The certificate of lawfulness was issued.

PLANS for works at a Pembrokeshire ‘bug farm’ to allow it “to maintain its high-quality farming, research, and educational facility” have been submitted to the national park.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Dr Sarah Beynon of Doctor Beynon’s Bug Farm Ltd, Lower Harglodd, St Davids, through agent Pembroke Design Ltd, seeks permission to for the removal and replacement of a shed on site with a modern one, which the applicant says will “allow the business to extend its season to the visitor experience”.

Dr Beynon’s Bug Farm, just outside St Davids, is the vision of Dr Sarah Beynon, who wanted to combine her love of farming, academic research and education by setting up a centre of excellence in her hometown of St Davids.

It offers a ‘friendly quirky and unique attraction’ for nature lovers and foodies set on a historic Welsh farm.

It boasts a tropical bug zoo, a bug museum, a recently opened nature recovery centre, a farming history museum, a farm trail across wildflower meadows, wetland and woodland, a peaceful walled garden, an art gallery, an indoor play barn and gift shop.

The farm is also home to Grub Kitchen, the UK’s first edible insect café, which offers a nature-friendly menu created from largely organic and local produce, with plenty of non-insect options too.

A supporting statement accompanying the application says the post-war shed, originally used for farm machinery by the applicant’s uncle has long passed its ‘sell by date’, and is not practical or feasible to repair; its replacement “will allow the Bug Farm business to continue to use it to provide educational opportunity and match the building to the rest of the farm buildings”.

The statement adds: “The farm has been named as one of Wales’s top 10 farms for rare arable plants and was used as a 2026 PCNPA case study for a private Naturfa site. Ten percent of the farm has been planted with native woodland since 2023, and the farm has been invited to be designated as part of the National Forest of Wales and will apply for Naturfa status.”

It went on to say: “In creating the nature reserve Sarah has created an educational facility to showcase the work done and to explain the effects it has on improving the wildlife habitat. It has been a huge success.

“The existing proposed Nature Discovery Centre is an educational space to enthuse people about nature and what they can do to reverse the declines of wildlife by discovering just how fascinating it is.

“Over the last few years, work has been carried out on the Nature Recovery Education Centre. Phase 2- Fit Out is due to commence shortly.

“The current proposal to replace the shed will allow the site to maintain its high-quality farming, research, and educational facility.”

It finished: “Once complete the site will enhance the great agricultural, research and educational destination for schools, universities, conservation/ farming groups and day visitors alike.”

The application will be considered by Park planners at a later date.