For the second time in two months a Carmarthenshire Council planning meeting had to be called off because it was ‘inquorate’ - meaning it couldn’t conduct its business as too few elected members were present.

Plans by Carmarthenshire Council to progress a much-anticipated cycle path between Llandeilo and Carmarthen were delayed because of a lack of councillors on its own planning committee.

On the agenda was a council application to create a temporary access for construction traffic to work on the Towy Valley cycle path.

Also up for discussion was a solar farm application at Nantycaws waste management site near Carmarthen, run by a council arms’-length body called Cwm Environmental Ltd.

The electricity generated, said the committee’s planning report, would mainly be used on site but would contribute to the council’s overall commitment of becoming a “net zero” carbon authority by 2030.

There were four other items on the agenda – an outline plan for 54 homes off Llannon Road south of Pontyberem, plans for an adult residential care unit in Pwll, near Llanelli, a proposal to convert a former social club on the outskirts of Carmarthen into flats, and an application to build four homes in Burry Port. All six applications were recommended for approval by planning officers.

Committee chairman, Cllr Tyssul Evans, opened the meeting on December 5 to say that six committees members were unable to attend in-person or remotely, meaning there were only 10 councillors present – one below the “quorate” threshold. “So unfortunately I have to declare that the meeting is closed,” he said.

The six applications will be determined at a future meeting, although developers can opt to appeal a “non-determination” of an application if a decision hasn’t been made within a certain time frame. This takes decision-making away from a local authority and to a Welsh Government-appointed planning inspector instead, but it usually takes months for a decision to be made.

Carmarthenshire’s cross-party planning committee should have 21 elected members – 10 Plaid Cymru, four Labour, four Independent and three unaffiliated independent. At the December 5 meeting there were five vacancies – three Independent, one Labour and one unaffiliated independent.

The committee met twice in November and, with 12 councillors present – one above the threshold – was able to conduct its business.

But a meeting in late October to determine a controversial waste recycling application at a former quarry near Llandybie was abandoned at the last minute because one of its members had been advised to declare an interest as his son rented land from the applicants. This effectively made it inquorate.

An objector to the quarry proposal branded it a “a bit of a farce”. The application was subsequently determined in November.

Labour group leader, Cllr Deryk Cundy, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it has now filled its vacancy.

The Independent group didn’t respond at the time of going to press.

One of the council’s seven unaffiliated councillors, Rob James, said he had concerns about aspects of the committee’s operation and that he wouldn’t serve on it unless there were changes.