If you have yet to comment, I believe that the application is still open for comments at:
Comments re: demolition of Old Pennar School
This is a very important request and your reply at the earliest opportunity would be most appreciated. Comments on the posts on this blog would be helpful too!
Email: SaveOldPennarSchool@gmail.com
Regarding meeting held in St Patrick’s Church hall 11/06/15
ReplyDeleteTowards the end of the meeting I suggested to Cllr Wilcox and the members of the panel that an alternative possibility would be to use the old Pennar Infant School site to provide a brown field site for housing. This has, as far as I know absolutely no architectural merit at all. It would also have the advantage of not providing problems with narrow access as there is a direct link to both Cross Park (which I know is already full of parked cars) and Owen Street via Oak Road, Phillip’s Lane and David’s Lane. I appreciate that this would mean losing a small area used by children to play but as there has been no upkeep of the equipment in the last 20 years at least this could be removed as part of construction and surely replaced as part of the infrastructure once the housing was completed
He dismissed this summarily with the comment that it was full and used every day. But then went on to say that anyway it was full of asbestos.
I am aware that Flying Start and SNAP use the infant school building together with the local health visitors. I know that they do not use the entire building. There is sufficient capacity within the Old Pennar School to accommodate them. There is sufficient area on the infant school site to provide the fifteen units required by the housing Association. This could ensure that a local landmark which is clearly precious to many Pennar residents was not only saved but also utilised for a worthwhile community purpose. More importantly surely we should not be exposing vulnerable small children to the hazard of any asbestos exposure.
I feel that this meeting was a total waste of time as there were no minutes taken and therefore no evidence to provide to the planning committee of any of the objections raised, the force of public opinion or even the number of people who were present to object to the proposals
30 Treowen Road
ReplyDeletePennar
Pembroke Dock
SA72 6NZ
Development Control Section,
Planning Division,
Pembrokeshire County Council,
County Hall,
Haverfordwest
Pembrokeshire
SA61 1TP
Sirs,
Re: Planning Application Ref 14/1098/PA Old Pennar School, Treowen Road, Pennar SA72 6NZ
We wish to make known our objections to the current proposal for demolition of the Old Pennar School and construction of 15 affordable dwellings on the site.
Firstly on page 9 of the planning support documentation comment is made that the proposed development will not compromise the local infrastructure. We assume by this comment the only road into Pennar is not classed as infrastructure. We note from the block plan that there is parking provision for 17 cars. This assumes then that there will be at least 17 extra cars using Treowen Road which is effectively the only access road into Pennar. This road has already seen a huge increase in traffic over past years following the developments in Lower Pennar, School Gardens, Pennar Point and more recently Stranraer Road. Also there will be a substantial increase in heavy traffic during the course of proposed demolition and rebuilding at the site as well as a potential increase in other traffic such as occupants relatives’ vehicles, delivery vehicles and emergency vehicle traffic once the dwellings are occupied.
Secondly on page 10 of the document there is a paragraph which reads “every effort should be made not to damage the area’s character or levels of amenity, and where practical important landscapes and wildlife features in the development should be enhanced” (4 i). The Old School has survived for over 140 years and through two world wars has been a landmark for this locality and forms an integral part of the character of this corner of Pennar, and whilst we agree that to let it fall into disrepair and ruin is also not a sensible outcome, to demolish it forever is an outrage! The Old School also houses a colony of swifts every summer and has done so for at least the last 28 years. There is also a small colony of bats in the area which are regularly seen around the building. Demolishing the existing building would therefore seem to go against the spirit of this clause of the
application support material on both counts and we would be very keen to know what provision the council has put in place for the protection of these bird and bat colonies.
We are aware that the need for housing in Pembrokeshire has increased. Having read the population household and labour force projections for Pembrokeshire we understand that there is a need to increase the housing supply by approximately 285 dwellings per annum. We feel that in the last few years Pennar has contributed more than its fair share towards this.
As far as we are aware no effort has been made to consult local residents on the impact that this development may have in terms of noise and other intrusive activity, loss of privacy, and appearance of the new properties. From a personal point of view certainly the noise of further traffic running up and down Treowen Road past our house will be disturbing but not as severe a disruption as the erection of what appears to be a three storey building in an elevated position with windows directly overlooking our living and bedrooms. In the past 25 years we have already lost light and privacy in our kitchen due to the development in School Gardens and lost privacy in our garden due to the building of the 2 houses in Heath Gardens. We feel that this latest development will result in a further loss of privacy for our family. As long term rate paying residents of Pennar we feel that our views on this development should be considered before planning permission is granted for this proposed development.
Yours
Mr L.J. Booth
Thanks for posting this.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteC/o The Weir
ReplyDeleteCross Park
Pembroke Dock
Pembrokeshire
SA72 6SN
12 May 2015
Dear Sir/Madam
Planning Application 14/1098/PA – Old Pennar School
I am writing to state my objections to the proposal to demolish the old Victorian school in Pennar and replace it with 15 dwelling units.
I have gone into further details about this proposal in the attached papers, and in this letter I wish to focus on some of these points, and others.
1. The Planning Application (Access and Design Statement) is clearly ill thought out and put together in haste. The papers available (some only available on the website TWO days before the comment deadline) consist mainly of standard policy rubric that has clearly been utilised elsewhere (“Square and Compass”?) for a completely different application and the document is an insult to the intelligence of both the planners at PCC and the local population.
2. The design DOES NOT pay regard to the local building style, which is largely late Victorian/Edwardian in nature.
3. Access to the site is restricted as the lane network behind Military Road is both narrow and has a difficult turn into the school gateway. The lane from the gate on Cannons Lane to the original school playground is narrow and it would be difficult to accommodate both vehicles and pedestrians at the same time. There is also limited access for emergency vehicles. See my note attached.
4. The school buildings are a known and current roost for bats (as described on the internet blog http://saveoldpennarschool.blogspot.com/2015/04/bats-roost-in-old-pennar-school.html). No acknowledgment of this is made by the developer. This again indicates the cavalier attitude and lack of sensitivity with which this application has been approached.
5. The proposed development infringes the privacy of the existing homes on School Gardens. The properties are overlooked by the north facing windows of the new development.
6. The application pays lip service to the facilities available to the residents of the new development, but most of the distances quoted in the access statement are inaccurate. Please see my later notes.
7. The Old Pennar School has an important place in the history of the community of Pennar and is a significant hill top landmark. It is the place where the firefighters who fought the oil tanks blaze at Llanreath/Pennar in August 1940 rested. They were treated royally by the local population. The school was a place where heroes rested.
As Phil Carradice, well known local author, historian and broadcaster, is quoted in the blog post Phil Carradice Speaks about Old Pennar School:
“Pennar School was one of many institutions that brought education to everyone and, as such, it is an historic building that needs to be preserved, not demolished to build yet more houses.”
I feel very qualified to speak out about this planning application as I have looked at the building from the house where I was brought up for the last 50+ years. I went to the school and my mother taught at the school.
I am certain that there are better options that could be employed to preserve the building and yet give it a useful role again.
Its wanton destruction will be a lasting memorial to those who have little regard or sense of place for the community of Pennar. The building is sound, well built (apart from the likely introduction of asbestos based materials when “renovated “ many years ago) and has good internal features that could be saved.
I hope that the information I have provided in this letter and enclosures, etc
is useful in exhorting you to refuse the application.
There are planning grounds that would allow you to refuse the application, but beyond those, the demolition of the school would do a grave injustice to the people of Pennar and their heritage.
Yours sincerely
Adrian James