Agenda item

Change of use of former nursing home to create 4 self contained holiday units, construction of separate buildings to be used as a swimming pool.

 

LOCAL MEMBER:    Councillor Peter Garlick

 

Link to relevant background documents

 

Change of use of a former residential nursing home to create four self-contained holiday units, erect a separate building to be used as a swimming pool together with extensions and alterations to the existing building. 

        

(a)     The Development Control Team Leader elaborated on the background of the application, noting that the application had been deferred at the Committee meeting held on 25 June 2018, to receive further confirmation from the agent regarding some specific aspects of the application together with conducting a site visit. It was noted that the site visit was conducted on 23 July 2018.

 

          Reference was made to the numbers staying, noting that confirmation had been received that the number of guests would vary according to the season but that the likely number at any one time would be between 50% and 60% (up to 70 people) of the building's residential capacity.

 

          Attention was drawn to the additional observations received that included confirmation from the Council's Tourism Service that this type of provision was scarce in the county.

 

          It was noted that the road to the site was narrow and winding, however, it was not considered that the proposal would entail a substantial obvious increase and harm in terms of traffic movement compared to the historical use as a residential nursing home. Therefore, it was deemed that the proposal was not unacceptable in terms of the relevant requirements of policies TRA2 and TRA4 of the JLDP.

 

          It was explained that there was no control of the current use of the site and this application would improve the situation. It was noted that observations were received from the Joint Planning Policy Unit in terms of mitigating measures to protect and promote the Welsh language. It was recommended to impose an additional condition to what was stated in the report in terms of agreeing on signage and information packs.

 

The development was acceptable in terms of relevant local and national policies for the reasons noted in the report.

         

(b)     Exercising the right to speak, the applicant’s agent noted the following main points:-

·         That the proposal complied with Policy TWR2 of the JLDP;

·         The business plan submitted as part of the application indicated that the profit that would emanate from the development would increase; 

·         That a transport assessment had been submitted as part of the application;

·         The Transportation Unit did not object to the proposal;

·         Bearing in mind the established use of the site, the traffic situation would be no worse; 

·         The proposal was in accordance with local and national policies.

 

(c)     It was proposed and seconded to approve the application.

 

During the ensuing discussion, the following main observations were noted by members:

 

·         It was a beautiful building and it needed to be safeguarded from deterioration;

·         Concern regarding road safety, but use of the site could be controlled with conditions;

·         Given that the home's residents had not been car users, traffic movements would be substantially higher. Enquiring if the entrance was safe;

·         Uncertain of the proposal with concern that it was an over-development. There would be four sections for 120 individuals without much control of the site. With a higher number of persons, around 200, when a wedding was held on the site, there did not appear to be sufficient seating room for so many people.

 

         In response to an enquiry from a member regarding the local member's view, the Development Control Team Leader noted that the local member had concerns about the road.

 

RESOLVED to approve the application.

 

Conditions:

1.     Time

2.     Compliance with plans

3.     Biodiversity

4.     Restrict to holiday use only.

5.     Site Management Plan

6.     Protecting trees

7.     Natural Resources Wales conditions

8.     Welsh Water conditions

9.     Materials

10.   Restrict the number of residents

11.   Traffic Management Plan

12.  Mitigation measures for language impact