PLANS for an office and bedding and linen storage facility for holiday lets at a former WW2 Pembrokeshire airfield have been given the go-ahead.

In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Sophie Davies, through agent Sureline Design Services Ltd, sought permission for the Erection of two modular office units at the former runway at Carew Airfield, Carew.

A supporting statement said the goal of the developer was to “create simple, efficient office space,” the developer “committed to reducing the environmental impact of the project,” with “material wastage on site is to be minimised by use of a modular prefabricated system”.

The application was supported by local community council Carew

An officer report recommending approval said: “The proposed development is located to the south of an existing cluster of buildings and is accessed via the shared access road through the former airfield, leading directly from the roundabout off the A477T. The site is located on the former runway, and is a flat surface area, with the surrounding area characterised by existing commercial and employment-related uses.”

It added: “The buildings would be used as storage for linen units, with ancillary office use, as the business manages bookings for holiday lets, and deals with changeovers (replacing bedding, towels, cleaning etc).

“The agent has confirmed that no washing or drying facilities will be provided on site and no foul drain connections water or kitchen facilities will be installed. With staff numbers being no more than five (3.5 full-time equivalents), with operating hours as 8am-5pm daily and an out-of-hours drop off until 10pm. Toilet facilities would be available within the exiting pavilion building, to the northwest of the proposed buildings, for the staff to use.”

It went on to say the business park “currently accommodates a broad range of employment-type operations including vehicle dismantling, caravan sales, self-storage and weekly market functions, demonstrating its established role as a rural employment area”.

The application was conditionally approved.

A PEMBROKESHIRE councillor has been suspended from office for four months for breaching the authority’s code of conduct over a planning matter on behalf of a friend he had holidayed in Mexico with.

At a May 26 extraordinary meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s standards committee, Milford Haven North county councillor Alan Dennison was alleged, and later found to have, breached the code of conduct for members.

The committee found Cllr Dennison failed to declare personal and prejudicial interests in relation to a call by an applicant known to him to have a planning application decided by committee rather than by officers.

In an application before Pembrokeshire County Council, Lee Bridges had sought permission for retrospective engineering works to provide an external dining area at Masonic Hall, Imperial Function Centre, Hamilton Terrace Address, Milford Haven, works having started in 2021.

The application was due to be decided by planning officers, but, at the request of Cllr Dennison on behalf of local member Councillor Terry Davies, who was unable to attend due to a family issue, an unsuccessful call for it to be decided by councillors was brought before the county council’s planning delegation panel meeting of February 2025.

The May 2025 special standards meeting heard of a long string of connections between Cllr Dennison and Mr Bridges.

These included the councillor had been secretary, from 2018-2022, of the local Masonic Lodge which owned the building where the works took place, and becoming director of Imperial Hall Ltd, Mr Bridges’ company, from 2020-2023 after providing a since-repaid loan to him.

The meeting also heard Cllr Dennison was aware of the planning history regarding the applicant, who he and his family had gone on a two-week holiday with Mr Bridges and his family to Mexico, their connection “more than a casual acquaintanceship”.

The committee also heard the issue of a potential prejudicial interest was raised with Cllr Dennison by the council’s monitoring officer, advising him to withdraw representations at the delegation meeting due to a “perception of bias and predetermination”.

After concerns were raised by councillors, a complaint was made to the Ombudsman by Assistant chief Executive Richard Brown; the Ombudsman concluding a member of the public with the knowledge of the facts would see a potential prejudicial interest.

Cllr Dennison, at the meeting, said his representations at the delegation meeting were only made in a signed-for form on behalf of Cllr Davies, saying it was not his but Cllr Davies’ call, he only attending the meeting as a member of the public.

Speaking on behalf of Cllr Dennison, applicant Lee Bridges said he had been provided with the loan by Cllr Dennison after he encountered financial difficulties, making him a director for a period of time “as a form of gratitude,” adding he had approached Cllr Davies as local member over the planning issue, but he was unable to proceed at the meeting due family issues.

Members found that Cllr Dennison had a personal interest based on his “close personal association with Mr Bridges,” along with Cllr Dennison being a member of the Masonic Lodge which occupied the land and building, along with the ongoing friendship effectively made him “an advocate”.

They also found that Cllr Dennison should have left the public gallery as soon as he became aware of the item under discussion, in accordance with Ombudsman guidelines.

Cllr Dennison said there was confusion over the monitoring officer advice given and felt he was unfairly treated over a lack of information about legal support available to him during the hearing process, hoping that “lessons would be learned” council-wide.

Defending himself personally, he said he, as a councillor, was “driven for the benefit of the people of Pembrokeshire,” with his councillor salary donated to a dogs’ hospital charity in Sri Lanka.

Cllr Dennison was told the breach would attract a “mid-level suspension,” aggravated by his “blatant disregard of the advice of the monitoring officer,” his “seeking to unfairly blame others,” along with “refusal to accept the facts despite clear evidence to the contrary and continuing to deny the facts,” mitigated by the isolated nature of the offence, his “previous good service” and “relatively short length of service,” having first become a councillor in 2022.

PLANS for a gymnasium and café occupying the majority of Pembroke Dock’s ferry terminal building have been given the go-ahead.

In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Lee Brookes of Westside Fitness Ltd, through agent William Beynon, sought permission for a change of use of part of the existing ferry terminal building, Pembroke Dock to a gymnasium and café.

A supporting statement dealing with a flood consequence assessment, by Francis Saint Ltd, said: “It is proposed to convert part of the existing Pembroke Dock Ferry Terminal Building (75 per cent) into a Gymnasium and café area while retaining the remainder of the building for its current use (25 per cent).”

It added: “The building, however, lies in a Zone 3 flood area, as shown on the Flood Maps For Planning, and shown to be potentially at risk of tidal flooding during a one-in-200-year event, with 100 years of climate change. Francis Sant were, therefore, asked to undertake a Flood Consequence Assessment to evaluate the risk. Even with 100 years of climate change the site is not at risk of flooding from a river or from surface water, during a 1-in-1000-year event.

“In addition, the site is also not expected to be at risk from reservoir failure and the risk of ground water flooding is considered to be low.”

It went on to say: “Located within the Haven, the site is protected from the more severe wave action. In addition, the plateaux to the north of the site would provide additional protection causing the waves to break onto the plateaux before reaching the building. Any water or spray reaching the building or the surrounding area is likely to flow back into the Haven posing a minimal risk to the development.

“As the building already exists there will be no loss of flood storage capacity, even if the building was at risk of flooding, and, as a surface water drain is already in place, there will be no increase in the rainfall runoff rate.”

The application was supported by Pembroke Dock Town Council.

An officer report recommending approval said: “The proposal represents the sustainable reuse of an existing building within a defined settlement and would provide a beneficial community leisure facility. No significant impacts are identified in respect of design, amenity, highways, flood risk or ecology, subject to conditions.”

The application was conditionally approved.