A PRE-APPLICATION consultation on plans to build 35 affordable homes on the site of the former Cleddau Bridge Hotel, Pembroke Dock is to be launched next week.

In a prime location at one of the entrances to Pembroke Dock the former Cleddau Bridge Hotel has been derelict since a fire in March 2019, which brought emergency services from as far afield as Ammanford, Aberystwyth and Swansea.

A previous planning application for the demolition of the hotel and siting of a residential care home and linked bungalows was submitted in October 2022 and which was subsequently granted permission in February 2023.

This permission, whilst in outline, is still live and allows for the loss of the hotel use of the site and its alternative redevelopment as a residential care home.

The site has now been purchased by Castell Group Property Specialists who specialise in delivering affordable housing in South Wales and have undertaken a joint development deal with Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) and that deal was agreed back in April 2024.

Castell Group Property Specialists, through agent Hayston Developments & Planning Ltd, now wants to demolish what is left of the hotel, with a development of two-storey affordable housing units, with landscaping and ecological enhancements, the housing being 100 per cent affordable, in a mix of a mix of social rent and affordable housing.

Initial discussions with the council were for 38 affordable units, which has been lowered to 35 in a mix of 16 x 1 bed units, 11 x 2-bed units, 6 x 3-bed units and 2 x 4 bed units.

Anyone who wishes to make representations about this proposed development must do so by the October 18, the formal consultation period commencing on September 18.

Details may be viewed here.

Responses should be emailed or posted to Hayston Development & Planning Ltd, Planning Studio, Hayston Bridge, Johnston, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA62 3HJ.

A formal application to Pembrokeshire County Council will follow the pre-consultation.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service has previously said the 2019 fire was started by a deliberate act.
Following a fire investigation, Dyfed-Powys Police said they found there to be insufficient evidence to identify a suspect.

A FORMAL consultation on changes to Pembrokeshire’s local development plan, with an ambition to create nearly 2,000 affordable homes, is to go ahead.

At an extraordinary council meeting taking place on September 13, councillors approved a public consultation on the Replacement Pembrokeshire County Council Local Development Plan (2017-2033) – LDP 2, Deposit Plan 2.

The consultation will take place later this year and run for a minimum of six weeks.

The Local Development Plan (LDP) sets out the local policy framework for determining planning applications and directing growth in the part of Pembrokeshire for which the county council has planning jurisdiction.

The report and proposal for a consultation was presented – and the recommendation moved – by Cabinet Member for Planning & Regulatory Services Cllr Jacob Williams, who tempted fate and superstition by pointing out that not only was the meeting being held on Friday 13, but the recommendation in the report was on page 13.

The report for members stated: “Pembrokeshire County Council’s current LDP was adopted in 2013 and has an end date of 2021, although it remains in force as the adoption of the plan pre-dated the formal introduction of statutory end dates for LDPs in Wales.

“Nonetheless the current LDP is now more than 11 years old and the need to prepare and adopt a replacement LDP is paramount, in order to make provision for the new growth needed to support communities and businesses up until 2033 and to protect and enhance Pembrokeshire’s environment.”

The new LDP2 includes a 60/40 per cent split between new dwellings proposed in the urban and rural areas, with a target of 5,840 dwellings, 2,000 of them affordable.

There are three strategic residential allocations made by LDP 2:  Slade Lane, Haverfordwest; Maesgwynne, Fishguard; and South of Conway Drive, Steynton, intended to provide 622 new dwellings between them.

In town centre developments, protected retail frontages are retained but their extent has generally been reduced, with no residential use at ground floor level in the primary frontages, residential use above ground floor level being supported.

Two solar array allocations are included in the plan, at Llanstadwell and Wolfscastle, and a coastal change policy, which limits development in areas vulnerable to flooding due to sea-level rise.

A new policy on water quality, including protection of water resources, is also included, responding to the river water quality issues in the Cleddau and Teifi catchments.

Council leader Cllr Jon Harvey said there was a need for additional affordable housing, expressing his frustration at some developers “trying to chip away” affordable housing promises in developments.

The consultation is expected to be launched later this autumn.

PLANS to enshrine international human rights treaties into Welsh law will no longer be brought forward by 2026 despite a manifesto commitment, a committee heard.

Labour’s 2021 Senedd manifesto pledged to incorporate United Nations conventions on rights of disabled people and the elimination of discrimination against women.

But the Senedd’s equality and social justice committee was told the Welsh Government will not introduce legislation on the UN treaties before the election in May 2026.

Simon Hoffman, a professor in law at Swansea University who specialises in human rights, led 2021 research on advancing equality and human rights in Wales.

In his written evidence to the inquiry, Prof Hoffman said preparatory work will not be complete in time for legislation to be brought forward during the current Senedd term.

He told the meeting: “I don’t think we can achieve what was in the recommendation…. I think the best we can think about is possibly a green paper and a timeline.”

Witnesses warned a lack of time and money has harmed efforts to incorporate UN treaties.

Charles Whitmore, a research associate at Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre, chairs a working group that is exploring the legislative options.

He told the committee: “We do not have any financial resource so far made available to pay for time to do the work, so invariably it proceeds at a pace that matches voluntary capacity.”

Cautioning that incorporation could be “quite far away”, Mr Whitmore said: “I don’t know if we’re at the stage of being able to put a timeframe against this yet.”

Jenny Rathbone, who chairs the equality committee, raised concern about delays, criticising the previous UK Government’s “schizophrenic attitude” towards human rights.

“Time marches on and we’re only 18 months away from wrapping up this term,” she said.

Her Labour colleague Julie Morgan questioned whether there has been a shift in view from Welsh ministers, asking witnesses if incorporation still holds value.

Sioned Williams, Plaid Cymru’s shadow social justice secretary, similarly asked whether there has been any cooling of enthusiasm towards enshrining rights.

And Joel James, her Conservative counterpart, contrasted “warm words” from ministers with an “implementation gap” on the ground.

Mr Whitmore agreed about the need to protect against “regression” in human rights at a UK level, saying the “alarming” pace of legislation drained capacity and hampered work.

Prof Hoffman, who is secretary of the Senedd’s cross-party group on human rights, said incorporation should remain firmly on the agenda.

“Legal recognition of rights is a significant step,” he told committee members.

Prof Hoffman said incorporation of rights would raise awareness, signal importance, influence policy development and provide for accountability.

He added: “One of the things that incorporation does is it makes human rights enduring … it makes human rights sticky … and I think that is particularly important.”

Prof Hoffman pointed out that Wales’ 2011 Rights of Children and Young Persons Measure places a duty on ministers to have “due regard” to the UN convention on children’s rights.

The expert cautioned that spreading resources too thinly could force a binary choice.

He said: “I think it’s crucially important that we continue on the route towards incorporation while also looking at other ways of doing human rights in practice.”

Prof Hoffman suggested the UK Government’s decision to challenge Scotland’s children’s rights legislation in the Supreme Court has had a chilling effect on work in Wales.

Meanwhile, Mr Whitmore cautioned that the sector is under considerable pressure as he raised the example of the ripple effect caused by the closure of the Chwarae Teg charity.

Sarah Nason, a senior lecturer in administrative law at Bangor University, said public bodies are already subject to many duties and any new ones need to be aligned.

“It’s a question of the duties being clear and consistent,” she said.

Calling for reforms to improve access to justice, Dr Nason raised concerns about cuts to legal aid creating “advice deserts” across the country.

She told the meeting on September 16 that Wales sees “very few” judicial review claims per head of population compared with parts of England and other devolved nations.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) painted a mixed picture in its 2023 ‘state of the nation’ report, entitled Is Wales Fairer?.

Warning poverty remains a persistent problem in Wales, the EHRC raised concerns about one-in-four children living in relative income poverty. 

The commission also found educational attainment for disabled children in Wales is falling behind other parts of the UK as is the attainment gap for those eligible for free school meals.

And, according to the report, the number of racially and religiously aggravated offences rose 72% from 2017 to 2022 while the number of offences resulting in a charge fell.

Making a total of 19 recommendations to the Welsh Government and other public bodies, the commission called for action to tackle gaps in data and evidence.

But the EHRC welcomed ministers’ commitments and highlighted progress on diversity in public appointments as well as a narrowing of gender pay and disability employment gaps.