News
‘Bonkers’ Cardigan ‘affordable homes’ refused by planners
A CALL to build four ‘affordable’ £400,000 homes near Cardigan, to all be occupied by members of the same family, was refused by county planners after members were told calling them ‘affordable’ was “bonkers”.
In an application before Ceredigion County Council’s August development management committee Celyn, Sara and Carys Jukes sought permission for the four ‘discount-for-sale’ three and four-bed detached homes in a line at Drws Y Coed, Cae Morgan Road, near Cardigan, currently an agricultural field next to an existing family home.
A supporting statement by agent Harries Planning Design Management said: “The applicants are the three daughters and sister of Mr Jukes. The three daughters currently reside at Drws Y Coed with their parents, who run Mark Jukes Containers, a very successful family business in Cardigan.
“The three sisters (Celyn, Sara and Carys) have lived at Drws Y Coed since birth. Ms Celyn Jukes is a secondary school teacher, Ms Sara Jukes works as a waitress at Yr Hen Printworks in Cardigan and Ms Carys Jukes is a sales executive at In the Welsh Wind.
“Finally, Mrs Mandy Jones (sister of Mr Jukes) is a hairdresser and runs a successful hair salon in Cardigan. Mandy has lived in Ceredigion (Glynarthen) for approximately 30 years, but she is currently living in rented accommodation in Blaenffos.
“Due to their personal and family ties to Caermorgan Road, it is such that they seek to build homes on the land to the rear of Drws Y Coed. This will provide independent living accommodation where they can settle and continue to live, work and raise a family within their local community.”
The application said property searches have been undertaken for alternative homes locally, in the range of £300,000-£350,000, most in need of modernisation or repair.
The application was supported by Cardigan Town Council, but concerns have been raised by members of the public on the impact on neighbouring properties.
The application was recommended for refusal on grounds including it went against planning policy as it is in an open countryside location, the application “fails to demonstrate that the proposed occupiers of the dwellings are in real affordable housing need, with their search focusing on properties up to a value of £350k,” and “there is no real need for the proposed occupiers to live at the application site, and is rather a desire to live close to the family”.
Speaking at the meeting, Celyn Jukes said the Welsh-speaking family hoped to raise their children “in the community that we live in”.
She told the committee of her surprise of earlier coverage of the plans in the local press, the Cambrian News and the Tivyside Advertiser, adding: “But it was pleasing that a lot of people had been supportive of this application.”
An appeal for the scheme to be backed was made by local county councillor Cllr Sian Maehrlein, who said the applicants were “a local family trying to stay in Cardigan,” and that, while the site was outside Cardigan, it was connected by a walking distance footpath, and that views from the road of the development would be “almost non-existent”.
Head of planning for Ceredigion Russell Hughes-Pickering told members: “I don’t understand why we’re having much of a discussion,” conceding to members he could understand their sympathies in providing housing for local applicants.
However, he raised serious concerns about the size and scale of the application, with houses proposed in the circa £400,000 range, describing them as “blatantly not affordable”.
“Anyone looking at the application and thinking they are affordable houses is bonkers, these are not affordable houses: the size of the properties, the size of the plots, the value of the houses; they are just not affordable.”
He added: “My genuine feeling is we should refuse this application; there is no way you can look at this proposal and come to the conclusion these are affordable houses. They are not, they are four very large houses and four very extensive houses; if this is about looking after local people we’ve got to look about looking after local people ‘in the realm’.
“The majority of people looking for affordable houses are not looking at houses in the £400,000 bracket, and that’s why we have policies that look at the size of the dwellings.”
Councillor Maldwyn Lewis suggested a site visit in order to view the plans in greater detail.
The call to defer the application, pending a site inspection panel visit, was defeated by five votes to six, with refusal later overwhelmingly backed.
Crime
Shoplifter stole beer and assaulted woman, court hears
JOHN ASHBY, 37, of Laws Street in Pembroke Dock, has admitted to stealing crates of Stella Artois and assaulting a woman, Llanelli Magistrates’ Court heard.
Ashby faced four charges, including stealing five crates of Stella Artois worth £60 from Tesco Express in Tenby and two more boxes worth £25 from Iceland in Haverfordwest on August 19.
After being released on bail on August 19, he failed to surrender to bail on September 3. He was also charged with assault by beating, accused of attacking a woman in Pembroke Dock on September 4.
Ashby pleaded guilty to all charges on September 6. The case has been adjourned for a pre-sentence report, and he has been granted bail until his sentencing at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on September 24.
Crime
10-year-old sexually abused by another child in Carmarthenshire
POLICE in Carmarthenshire have said that a A 10-year-old was sexually abused by another child at a playing field.
Officers were called after a report of sexual touching of a 10-year-old at Penygaer playing fields in Llanelli at 21:40 HRS on Wednesday (Sept 11).
Dyfed-Powys Police said the suspect was also believed to be a child and it was trying to identify them.
The force said its investigation was ongoing and urged people to be “mindful of what they are sharing online”.
Farming
MP calls for government-led campaign to halt rural population decline
WALES should follow example of Western Australia in attracting doctors and nurses, says a local MP
Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion Preseli, Ben Lake, has said that Wales should follow the lead of regions like Western Australia in attracting workers to fill skill shortages in public services through promotional campaigns.
He warned that rural depopulation in Wales could lead to a “collapse of public services” without government intervention to retain young people in rural areas and attract workers from other parts of the world.
Western Australia launched a campaign last year targeting workers in the UK and Ireland, enticing them with promises of higher salaries, a better quality of life, and lower living costs. WA government minister Paul Papalia declared in the promotion, “We are here to steal your workers by offering them a better life in one of the most beautiful places on the planet.”
Ben Lake MP highlighted the “many benefits of rural living” in Wales and urged both the Welsh and UK governments to do more to attract key workers to rural communities. He noted that Ceredigion recorded a 5.9% decrease in its population in the last census, while Pembrokeshire’s population remained stagnant. The constituency is experiencing the “real consequences of depopulation,” including a shortage of GPs, the absence of NHS dental services in much of the region, school closures, and the lack of banking facilities.
Rural Wales will face a “collapse of public services” unless the Welsh Government, together with the UK Government, which holds all powers relating to immigration in Wales, take action to help attract workers.
Speaking in Westminster this week, Ben Lake MP said: “I represent Ceredigion Preseli. At the last census, Ceredigion—the majority of my constituency—recorded a 5.9% decrease in its overall population, and the communities in Preseli or Pembrokeshire that I now represent saw their population flatline. This is a problem that we are very much living with today. What does it mean? In practice, it means that we are having very difficult discussions about, for example, the provision of public services and whether the school estate is sustainable for the future. We are talking about the lack of GPs and the fact that we do not have an NHS dentist any more in much of the constituency. There are three well-known banks in the UK that no longer have a single branch in the two counties that I represent. This is the real consequence of depopulation.
He continued: “This is something that the UK Government can help with, and it should be on their radar. When the Cabinet Office looks at the range of risks it must monitor as part of its remit—something that the Public Accounts Committee discussed in the previous Parliament—it should look at how the discrepancies in demographic trends across these islands might have an impact on key public services, because in certain areas of rural Wales we will, I am afraid, see a collapse of public services. That will have a knock-on impact on more urban areas, which are themselves struggling with different demographic pressures.
“This is an important debate, and I would ask the Home Office Minister to consider, as part of her important work in this new Parliament, the lessons to be drawn from experiences across the world. My hon. Friend the Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart, SNP) mentioned the experience of Quebec. As west Walians, we often turn on the radio to hear adverts from the Government of Western Australia trying to attract many of our young doctors and nurses to migrate to that part of the world. Are there incentives we could use to persuade more of our young people to stay or to attract those from other parts of the world? There are many benefits to rural living. Perhaps we could be more creative in grasping this problem by the scruff of the neck, because I fear we do not have much time left to deal with it.”
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