Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

The ambitious Llanelli Goods Shed project has taken another giant step forward. Planning permission and Listed Building Consent has been granted for the Grade II historic building. “It’s another significant move along the tracks for the project,” said the chairman of the Llanelli Railway Goods Shed Trust, Llanelli MP Nia Griffith. “Over the course of the last two years we have been rewarded with more than £100,000 of development cash from different grant funders. “That money has been put to good use and has enabled us to carry out a whole range of site surveys and progress our planning application. “Our architects, Davies Sutton, of Cardiff, are recognised as one of the finest in the UK in the field of renovating historical buildings. “The Goods Shed building in Marsh Street is currently derelict, but Davies Sutton have developed innovative and creative plans to transform a building which was built in 1875 and is a classic example of the Brunel style of architecture.” The Goods Sh...

A sound like thunder . . . and then a 30-ft wide sinkhole opens up near a Towy Valley home! Surprising? Perhaps not to anyone familiar with the area around Towy View Park, off Capel Dewi Road, just outside Carmarthen. After all, didn’t our parents and teachers in Llangunnor always warn us when we were children – ‘Don’t go near the lead mines’ . I am sure there are a whole host of us Llangunnor ‘50-somethings’ who heard the stern warning – and heeded it, fearing being swallowed up by old mine workings. The only surprises to most of us down the years have been – Why would anyone want to build on the site? And . . . Why did the homes get planning permission? The ‘folklore’ story we were given as youngsters revolved around the mines dating back to Roman times. Historians will, I am sure, tell it different. By all accounts, the lead mines just off the B4300 Capel Dewi Road were worked in the 18th century. In 1852 Thomas Field formed the Vale of Towy Silver-Lead Mining Company...

Not for profit housing provider Gwalia has been granted planning permission to build 27 new homes on land off Heol Dyfnallt in Carmarthen. Gwalia is working in partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council to deliver the affordable homes as a housing co-operative, one of three Welsh Government pilot projects in Wales. These pioneer projects will explore the use of co-operative models as an additional affordable housing option for people in Wales. The design of the two, three and four-bedroom homes has been inspired by the local architecture; brickwork facades mirror the material used most frequently in the locality, while the angular bays of nearby Job’s Well House have been modernised and incorporated into the design. The pale buff brick, dark grey window frames and good quality brick detailing seek to produce an elegant result. Jonathan Hughes, Director of Development at Gwalia said “We are delighted to have been granted planning permission for this innovative housing project. W...

A St Clears man has been fined £200 for building a two storey garage and store without planning permission. David Bryan Howells pleaded guilty at Carmarthen Magistrates Court to an offence contrary to Section 179 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The prosecution was brought by Carmarthenshire County Council. Kelly Byrne, prosecuting, said that in August 2012, the county council, as local planning authority, issued an Enforcement Notice relating to land at Lodge, Bancyfelin, Carmarthen. It alleged Mr Howells, who lives at Pwll Trap, St Clears, had, without planning permission, erected a two storey garage and store on his land at Lodge, Bancyfelin. The Notice required Mr Howells to reduce the height of the garage and store to the same height as he could have built without needing planning permission, that is, single storey and therefore not an excessive height. He was given three months to carry this out unless an appeal was made to the Planning Inspectorate. No valid appeal was...

Planning permission has been granted to put solar panels on the roof of a Carmarthen primary school. Carmarthenshire County Council’s planning committee this week approved an application by the local authority’s technical services department to place 78 solar panels to south facing roofs at Ysgol y Dderwen in Heol Spurrell. An officers’ report to the committee said: “The proposal is for a relatively small scheme for renewable energy.”