Old Pennar School - some thoughts about the plan submitted.

In what follows, square brackets [ ] denote my comments. The reference for the material quoted below is:

"Application for Planning Permission.- Town and Country Planning Act 1990", submitted by the applicant.

This application  can be found at:

http://planning.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/AnitePublicDocs/00213858.pdf

Application reference: 14/1098/PA


The applicant is the Pembrokeshire Housing Association (from now on referred to as PHA), with offices at St Thomas's Green in Haverfordwest. The application names Mr Sam Stalbow, who declares that he is an agent acting on behalf of the applicant.

[No telephone or email address on form.]

Architect is:

Trevor Hopkins Associates Ltd, Cardigan, SA43 1EW

email: design@trevorhopkins.com, Tel: 01239621010

The current case officer at PCC planning is Mr Martin Allen. [I have made 5 attempts to contact him to no avail.]

The applicants propose to:

Demolish existing school and former Depot. Construct 5 two bedroom houses and 10 one bedroom flats together with associated infrastructure works. Works involve a change in use from Commercial to Residential.

The pre-application advice that PHA received, via email from Mr Mike Harris (unelected planning officer at Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC)) on 23 February, 2015 was:

"We will now be in the position to recommend approval of the proposal when presented as an application."

PHA cite these references for the documents to support their application:

• D-BP-1279E, P-1&2-1279A, P-3&4-1279A, P-5-1279A, P-6to15-1279B, DAS

[Are all these documents available on-line at PCC planning portal?]

17 Parking places to be provided, none present at the moment.

[Mere application of paint??]




In their application, PHA specifically say, in response to the following question:

"Having referred to the guidance notes, is there a reasonable likelihood of the following being affected adversely or conserved and enhanced within the application site, or
on land adjacent to or near the application site?"

a) Protected and priority species             NO



[No reference made to the confirmed use of the building as a bat roost.]

One example of evidence of the presence of bats on north side of Old Pennar School.
Photograph taken within last 10 days.

In response to the  statement quoted below in the application papers:

"Supporting Information Requirements
Where a development proposal is likely to affect features of biodiversity or geological conservation interest, you will need to submit, with the application, sufficient information and assessments to allow the local planning authority to determine the proposal.

Failure to submit all information required will result in your application being deemed invalid. It will not be considered valid until all information required by the Local Planning Authority has been submitted. [my italics for emphasis]

Your Local Planning Authority will be able to advise on the content of any assessments that may be required."

[No documentation re: known bat roost has been submitted(?) or made available on-line by PHA/PCC for this application.]


The application was submitted by PHA on 27 February 2015.

Comment on other application papers to follow soon. If any of the above affects your thoughts about this application, please do comment to PCC, You can comment again, as a supplement to any original comment you may have made.

Thank you

PS: It is worth commenting that the naming of planning documentation on PCC planning portal seems very obscure. File names bear no resemblance to the actual id used within the document. It makes understanding the plans difficult, particularly when having to quote them to others. This should be improved.