Councillors in Tenby have asked for an update on the redevelopment of the former post office depot building on Warren Street.
The building situated at Deer Park/Warren Street has been empty since Royal Mail relocated their delivery operations in Tenby to a purpose-built delivery office in Narberth back in 2019; whilst the Post Office store also moved in 2020 to a new premises on South Parade.
Consultation began back in 2021 on a pre-planning application proposing 34 residential apartments, and ground floor retail units on the site.
Formal notice was given that the company Trillium (RMF) Ltd, which specialises in consulting and engineering services, that an application was to be submitted to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority for planning permission and conservation area consent for a scheme that incorporated a four storey residential apartment building and a two storey rear mews building, delivering 34 residential apartments (comprising 23 one-bed units, 11 two-bed units) alongside commercial space at ground floor level.
The proposals stated that the development would be served by 10 parking spaces (including one electric vehicle charging point), cycle storage, waste storage and a roof-top amenity area, and a complimentary landscaping scheme.
At the time, members of Tenby Town Council stated that they were broadly in favour of the proposals as the concept of commercial units at ground floor level with accommodation above, fitted in with their desired vision for this prominent site within the Conservation Area.
However, councillors did express their concern over a lack of affordable housing provision included in the plans, concerns also relayed by Tenby Civic Society’s planning committee, who said that the site was ideally located for social housing, feeling that the applicants’ failure to address that provision would need correcting in any approval.
Speaking at this month’s meeting of the Town Council, Cllr Tish Rossiter said that she felt they owed it to the residents of the town to find out what was going on with plans for the site’s development, as it looked ‘shabby’.
The Clerk said that he had approached the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority to see if they had any answers, with team leader of PCNPA’s development management Kate Attrill responding that a report to the Authority on the scheme was expected early in the New Year.
The clerk said that there were ongoing discussions on viability, which he speculated related to the affordable housing element of the scheme.
Cllr Laurence Blackhall felt that the reality was, that the developers were trying to get planning permission with minimal or no affordable housing conditions attached.
He said that the Town Council supported Ateb housing association and Pembrokeshire County Council in seeking to develop that land to provide more housing for the people of the town.
“If PCNPA do the right thing and refuse the application in its current form then a discussion can take place,” he told his fellow members.
Cllr Sue Lane asked if PCC could threaten the site owners with a compulsory purchase order due to the state of the land, but Cllr Blackhall felt that this would be really difficult to impose, as there would be so many barriers to overcome.
