A PREVIOUSLY refused call for the relocation of a Pembrokeshire farm diversification scheme which packages and distributes specialist medical equipment across Europe will be decided by full council after being backed a second time by councillors.

In an application recommended for refusal at the January meeting of Pembrokeshire County council’s planning committee, Mr Van Der Spoel sought permission for the relocation and expansion of an existing farm diversification business into an existing agricultural building at Castle Villa, Hayscastle.

It had previously been recommended for refusal at the December meeting, but members went against the officer recommendation with a ‘minded to’ approval, meaning it returned to the January meeting after a ‘cooling off’ period.

Back in July a similar application by Mr Van Der Spoel, through agent Harries Planning Design Management, was refused by planning officers.

A supporting statement for that application said the Dutch-born applicant, together with his wife and adult daughter ran the farm diversification business packing specialist medical insulated insulin supplies at their 135-acre sheep farm.

It added: “The business run from this site is FRIO ASTRID EURO Ltd, which has a franchise agreement with FRIO UK. This business has been run from Castle Villa since its incorporation in 1998. The business was initially run from the stable building on the farmyard at Castle Villa.

“The business set-up involves receiving stock from FRIO UK in Wolfscastle, packaging orders and distributing the stock to seven Western Europe countries.”

Wolfscastle-based FRIO produces the world’s first patented insulin cooling wallet which keeps insulin and other temperature-sensitive medicines cool and safe.

The scheme for the business, said to have outgrown its current site, was refused by county planners on grounds including a lack of “robust evidence” to prove it couldn’t be sited within a nearby settlement or an allocated employment site, such as Haverfordwest.

The latest application is recommended for refusal on similar grounds.

At the December meeting, members heard from agent Wyn Harries his client’s business, selling into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany, accounted for some 20 per cent of FRIO UK’s trade on its own.

Mr Harries spoke again at the January meeting, saying previous articles in the Western Telegraph had shown a great deal of public support for the scheme, which had no local objections, adding of the previous ‘minded to’ approval: “Comments on the Western Telegraph [story] show the general populace would be like-minded with the councillors.”

Cllr Mark Carter said: “The only comments [locally] are why aren’t they allowed to continue? It’s almost an ideal business, they are there, it’s tidy, they are getting on with it, there’s never a complaint, it is very hard to see the business that is going on there; I’m absolutely fully supportive of this family.”

Officers had, if members were again supportive of the scheme, proposed a Section 106 legal agreement condition for approval, to ensure the FRIO ASTRID storage and distribution use remains in the same ownership and control as the existing farm business.

A call by Cllr John T Davies to again go against the officer recommendation of refusal was made, supported by 11 members, with one voting for refusal.

The application will now go before a future full council meeting for a final decision, expected to be the March meeting.

COUNCILLORS have expressed their sympathy after plans to convert an annexe in a Pembrokeshire village to a holiday let were refused due to general ongoing guidance about nitrogen levels in the Haven Waterway which is limiting development.

In an application recommended for refusal at the January 13 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, Mr J Burns sought a partly retrospective permission for the subdivision of an existing annexe at Briardale, Lamphey for holiday accommodation.

The application was before the committee rather than being decided by officers under delegated powers following a successful call at the October meeting of the council’s planning delegation panel.

It was recommended for refusal on the grounds it would result in an increase in nitrogen discharges draining into the Milford Haven Inner waterbody of the Pembrokeshire Marine Special Area of Conservation (SAC) “where features are known to be in unfavourable condition due to current evidence of both chemical and biological failure,” an issue, based on Natural Resources Wales guidance that is affecting many developments that have foul water drainage.

Pembrokeshire County Council recently backed sending a letter to the First Minister, conveying the authority’s “great concern over Natural Resources Wales’ recent river nitrates guidance,” which has “essentially placed a moratorium on certain types of development in Pembrokeshire”.

It says the area which development is required to demonstrate nitrogen neutrality is approximately 75 per cent of the county, including Haverfordwest, Narberth, Pembroke and Pembroke Dock, and amounts to approximately 35 per cent of the council’s future housing land supply.

Speaking at the meeting, agent Richard Banks said there had been no neighbour objections to the scheme, the building having already been on-site used as an annexe for family members for some two years.

He said the potential to use the existing facility for 365 days a year meant there was unlikely to be an increase in foul water drainage to the SAC.

Councillor Alec Cormack, who moved the recommendation of refusal, said: “My sympathy is with the applicant, and any applicant affected by this regulation.”

Officers also expressed sympathy to the applicant, but stressed the scheme, as a material change of use, brought in the need to comply with the NRW guidance, adding the scheme would, on the information presented, likely have an impact on the SAC through an increase in nitrates.

Members voted 11 to one in favour of refusal.

Cllr Alan Dennison expressed his sympathy the applicant was “just caught up in this farce regarding nutrients,” with committee chair Cllr Mark Carter stressing there was a need to find a solution to the ongoing issue: “I’m very sorry for all these people, these agents, these applicants, these builders, caught up in this.”

A nearby housing scheme for 50 homes on land near Gibbas Way, Pembroke was recently refused in part due to the ongoing nitrates issue.

AMENDMENTS to a 52-home scheme in Pembrokeshire, which will provide just four affordable homes due to financial viability concerns, are critical for its delivery in a “stagnant housing market,” councillors heard.

In an application recommended for approval at the January meeting of Pembrokeshire County council’s planning committee, Wakefield Developments Pembrokeshire Ltd sought permission for amendments to a previously-granted scheme for a development of 52 homes on land east of Pilgrims Way, Roch.

The £10m mixed units scheme, granted back in 2024, had drawn concerns that only four affordable units would be provided against a 20 per cent requirement, the developer citing viability reasons for the low number.

Amendments proposed to that scheme included a change in some of the house types, including from apartment arrangement to semidetached town houses, changes to some of the sizing, repositioning of some units, an embankment being replaced by a footpath, and a substation being introduced to serve the new housing estate’s electricity supply.

A report for members accompanying the application said: “As previously accepted and again assessed by virtue of [a valuation] the proposed development is not fully policy compliant, insofar as it cannot deliver the indicative 20 per cent affordable housing sought [by policy].

“However, a substantial positive social impact will arise through the provision of housing, including four one-bed affordable housing units, in meeting identified needs for both market and affordable housing.

“Furthermore, financial obligations as agreed and secured by the extant parent application towards the mitigation of adverse impacts in relation to education and highways, remain as being essential to ensuring that the development is acceptable in planning terms and remain unchanged by this S73 application.”

18 objections to the original scheme were received, raising concerns including an “inadequate” affordable housing level, it being a high-density development for a rural area, a loss of green space, the size of some of the homes, and pressures on existing services and facilities, and fears it may lead to an increase in second homes.

Nolton & Roch Community Land Trust had raised its concerns about a lack of affordable homes at the development, calling for a 20 per cent affordable homes element, as recommended by policy.

Speaking at the January 2026 meeting, agent Gethin Beynon welcomed the recommendation of approval, saying the amendments were critical for the delivery of the development, improving its saleability “in what is a stagnant housing market”.

He said the developers were still building 52 units, in what was “one of the very few new housing developments of this scale in Pembrokeshire” due to limitations placed by the ongoing nitrates issue.

Local member Cllr Nick Neumann said the local community council was supportive of the scheme, with the new housing helping the viability of the local school; Cllr Brian Hall later moving approval of the amendments.

The latest application was backed by 11 votes to one.