Houses, flats and bungalows could be built at a former butter factory in Carmarthenshire.

Wales and West Housing Association wants to build 45 homes at the Parc Owen Industrial Estate site in St Clears.

A design and access statement submitted on behalf of the housing association said the properties have been designed to meet the needs of St Clears residents on the county council’s housing register.

It said: “The supply of land for housing and the delivery of new homes is a serious challenge in the county.”

The proposals include 22 two-bedroom, semi-detached houses.

The four-acre site in question is off Station Road, just to the north of St Clears Leisure Centre, and has two buildings occupied by three companies. The two buildings would be demolished.

Long after the butter factory closed, the land was earmarked for a nursing home, doctors’ surgery and a retail store but the project never got going.

St Clears councillor Philip Hughes said he would like to see the housing association scheme go ahead, and that it would enhance that part of town.

“At this moment in time it (the site) is looking quite derelict,” he said.

The design and access statement said woodland on the eastern boundary should be retained, and that footpaths would be provided to the leisure centre and also Ysgol Griffith Jones to the north.

It also said there was the potential for highway improvement works to the leisure centre’s access off Station Road, subject to viability.

A St Clears Town Council committee has considered the application, and said new developments on Station Road could exacerbate a pinch-point where it met Pentre Road.

It also said that more housing would put a further strain on the local sewage system.

The applicant’s design and access statement said suitable foul and surface drainage systems were available to serve the proposed development, based on initial investigative work.

A transport statement on behalf of the housing association said the development would generate 214 trips per day, around 70 more than currently.

“This is not considered to be a significant increase and it is unlikely that this level of increase will have any material impact on the highway capacity or safety,” it said.