A Saundersfoot county councillor has reaffirmed his hopes that a new housing development for the seaside village, currently under construction, will provide a big boost to local families looking for full-time accommodation, and not for second homes.
Plans for a new estate of 54 homes (provisonally to be called Nant Y Dderwen) on land north of Whitlow were given the go-ahead by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority planners last year, with a condition that 13 are not second homes.
“There has been a great deal of interest in this site mainly from local residents and with the current 200% Council Tax on second homes, I sincerely hope that this site will encourage full time living,” said Cllr Chris Williams.
“I feel that we have enough holiday homes around the village and certainly wouldn’t want to see this current development being used in this way.
“Developers Morgan Construction has confirmed there will be 19 affordable properties on site, and hopefully, they will accommodate young families and individuals with Saundersfoot links who have struggled to find accommodation currently in the village.”
Last month, Cllr Williams said he held a meeting with developers along with a long term resident from the Whitlow Estate, due to the concerns of some that reside and back onto the new site.
“The meeting was very positive and we discussed many points that had been raised by a few owners of properties in Whitlow. We briefly discussed the recent early Saturday work,” he continued.
“Moving forward, if weekend works are necessary, strict adherence to times outlined will be followed. Any disruptive works required will be communicated to local residents in advance.
“Morgan Construction reassured everyone that it prides itself on the positive relationships they’ve had with surrounding communities in other developments and that weekend work is generally avoided.”
Also discussed was the retaining wall at the rear of plots 1-13 and the possibility of continuing this and changing the back garden layout to avoid terraced gardens; with Morgan Construction noting that a 1.8-metre-high close board fence will be installed on top of the retaining wall, mitigating any privacy concerns for the existing properties on the Whitlow Estate.
Cllr Williams also moved to clarify other concerns that had been raised, confirming that the nearby primary school will be able to quite easily accommodate 100 extra pupils; and that the village’s doctor’s surgery, which currently has just under 10,000 patients, with the capacity ratio for the staff and size allowing the facility to accept patients from the three new development sites in the village, as they will be in the catchment area.
Regarding sewage for the site, the devlopement will have a new pumping station that will allow them to connect into the main system due to the gravity of the system currently in place.
“Personally having grown up on Whitlow, there has been talk regarding building on these fields for nearly 30 years. If any resident has any concern please look at the Local Development Plan information on PCNPA’s website,” he added.