BUDGET supermarket giant Lidl could be building a new store near a Pembrokeshire seaside town with the promise of 40 jobs, and is seeking the public’s views following the launch of a consultation.

Lidl is exploring plans to develop a new food store on land off the A478, near the entrance to Park House Court in the village New Hedges, close to Tenby.

Earlier this year, the German supermarket giant said it was keen to open at a new location in Pembroke Dock, where it already has a store, along with hopes to build a new store in Tenby.

There are currently three Lidl stores in Pembrokeshire, at Pembroke Dock, Haverfordwest and Milford Haven, the latter of which has recently been given the go-ahead for a new revamped store.

Lidl has now launched an online consultation for the proposals, with a public information event due to take place on December 4 at De Valence Pavilion, Upper Frog Street, Tenby between 3 and 7pm.

In the consultation documents, Lidl says: “Lidl GB is seeking views regarding proposals for a new foodstore on land off the A478, Narberth Road in New Hedges near Tenby.

“A new Lidl store at this site would increase local shopping choice, create up to 40 new jobs, and offer high quality products at great prices.

“The planning application will consider a range of matters including design, landscaping and highways.”

It says the proposed store would be “built to our very latest specification, including modern in-store facilities like Lidl’s popular bakery, a 1,334 sqm sales area, and customer toilets with baby changing facilities”.

The scheme proposes 103 parking spaces, including six accessible, nine parent and child bays, and covered cycle parking, along with “enhanced environmental features including solar panels on the roof and rapid electric vehicle chargers for two vehicles in the parking area,” adding: “Lidl has an ongoing commitment to enhance the sustainability of its stores.”

It says the scheme, if approved, would create “up to 40 jobs for local people including full and part-time roles, with entry-level staff receiving Lidl’s competitive £12.40 per hour starting pay”.

The consultation says community leaflets, including feedback forms, will be arriving soon. 

Following the consultation a formal application is expected to be lodged with Pembrokeshire County Council planners for consideration at a later date.

DRAWING the courts into determining whether to disqualify dishonest politicians from the Senedd would be disproportionate and potentially dangerous, a committee heard.

Azzurra Moores, policy lead at Full Fact, an independent fact-checking organisation, warned of political point scoring as she gave evidence to an inquiry on Monday November 25.

The Senedd’s standards committee is weighing up three options: creating a criminal offence of deception, a civil offence, or strengthening existing internal systems and sanctions.

Ms Moores recognised the need to shine a light on dishonesty and deception in politics but cautioned that involving the courts would do more damage than good.

She told the committee: “We are quite concerned that co-opting the criminal justice system to determine the truth and the accuracy of statements would be disproportionate and potentially dangerous, partly because we don’t think it’ll work in practice.”

Tom Brake, director of pressure group Unlock Democracy, said trust in politics has been on a downward trend for years, with a tendency to overpromise and underdeliver.

But the former Liberal Democrat MP said: “We do have concerns about the idea of creating a criminal or civil offence of deception … particularly around vexatious complaints.”

Mr Brake raised the risk of a repeat of headlines such as “Enemies of the people” in the Daily Mail after judges ruled the UK Government needed Parliament’s consent on Brexit.

He told the committee: “There are certain politicians who will use this to their advantage in terms of referring to political interference by judges.”

Responding to concerns about politicians marking their own homework, Mr Brake supported calls for lay members on the committee that considers complaints against Senedd members.

Labour’s Lee Waters said the current standards system has failed to arrest a decline in trust, questioning whether continued tweaks are the right response to a growing problem.

Mr Brake argued the system works in some ways as he pointed out that Boris Johnson stood down in the face of a privileges committee report over Partygate.

The former deputy leader of the House of Commons also raised examples of leaflets claiming “waiting times at record highs” and “Liberal Democrats’ best election results”.

He said: “I’m not only concerned about vexatious complaints … but I’m also concerned about what would appear to be ‘legitimate’ complaints about statements that I suspect every single politician on this call has published in one or other of their leaflets.”

Mr Brake expressed concerns about the implications for parliamentary privilege which affords MPs immunity from legal challenge, allowing them to speak freely in parliament. In the Senedd, privilege is limited to defamation and contempt rather than “absolute”.

Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price, who has led calls to create an offence, said parliamentary autonomy should be subject to external accountability in some circumstances.

He pointed to the Hillsborough law, which would make it an offence for civil servants to intentionally mislead the public, arguing the same principle should apply to elected officials.

Sam Fowles, director of the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research (ICDR), countered critiques of a model the think tank proposed to the committee.

Dr Fowles warned self-policing of parliaments has failed, with public trust in politics declining to historic lows, describing the courts as an independent and trusted alternative.

The barrister said the ICDR’s model contains strong safeguards, including a criminal offence of making a vexatious claim acting as a deterrent and an opportunity to correct the record.

Jennifer Nadel, co-director of Compassion in Politics, raised the cross-party think tank’s petition, which has been signed by 200,000 people, calling for a law on politicians lying.

She warned the world is at a dangerous moment, with the rise of populist leaders in Europe and the election of US president Donald Trump, “who has no compunction about lying”.

Ms Nadel told the committee: “I think we have a very small window to try to shore up our democracy against the impact of deliberate disinformation by political leaders.”

The former barrister said politicians have lower levels of trust than any other profession, with only 9% of the public believing what politicians say in the latest Ipsos “veracity index” survey.

Cautioning against “rearranging the deck chairs”, Ms Nadel stressed: “Politics needs to visibly take action to show it’s cleaning up its act, so that it can begin to restore trust.”

PLANS for £2m plans for wheelchair accessible holiday lodges at the site of a Pembrokeshire deer park attraction have been resubmitted after they were previously withdrawn on the eve of a meeting recommending they be refused.

In an application submitted to Pembrokeshire County Council, Mr and Mrs Evans seek permission for 15 lodges at Great Wedlock, Gumfreston, near Tenby, the site of a 176-acre deer farm attraction, opened last year, and a recently-granted market traders’ barn.

An earlier application was recommended for refusal by officers at the July meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, but, at the start of that meeting, members heard the application had been withdrawn at the agent’s behest.

Reasons for refusal given to members included it was outside of an identified settlement boundary in a countryside location, it was considered to have an adverse impact on visual amenity and did not include a Green Infrastructure statement.

In a supporting statement, the applicants had said: “Over the last 48 years, my wife and I have developed holiday parks firstly in Pembrokeshire and then throughout the UK. We decided to return to Pembrokeshire where it all started for us in 1976, to develop the deer park and are now looking to develop the wheelchair accessible lodge development, to support our business and for the benefit of Pembrokeshire and its economy.

“In 2020 we bought Great Wedlock Farm and set about applying for planning permission to open the farm to the public to provide a new tourism destination and allow visitors to re-connect with the countryside and natural beauty Pembrokeshire has to offer. The deer were purchased from Woburn Abbey and some from the late Queen’s estate (to ensure the highest quality of deer breeding stock). We opened the deer park in May 2023 with a great emphasis on catering for disabled persons and the elderly.”

They have previously said build costs to complete the development would be circa £2m.

St Florence Community Council did not support the previous application, saying there was no evidence of need for the accommodation, raising concerns about the impact on exiting holiday accommodation, and the design which it says should consider all disability groups not just those in a wheelchair.

Following the withdrawal, amended proposals have now been submitted by the applicants through agent Atriarc Planning, following a consultation recently held with St Florence Community Council.

A supporting statement by the agent says: “Following the meeting, the plans have been revised to create a less linear arrangement with further landscaping provided on site. The new lodge arrangement has been revised to create a less structured environment whilst also providing for a higher degree of natural landscaping.

“A new ‘Pembrokeshire’ hedgerow (circa 222m) is now provided along the site boundary to the west and minor infill hedge to the south. Along with the proposed planting, the placement of the units also creates a site layout, which would limit further access to the wider lands under the applicant’s ownership (therefore constraining any future extension of the site, to seek to allay the community council’s primary concern of further development on site).”

It says the amended plans were re-presented to the Community Council in October, and it “noted to the applicant it was now in a position to support the proposed development”.

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