Testun llawn:
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Evans Banks Planning Ltd. has been instructed by Mr D Thomas to prepare and
submit an Alternative Allocation Report for the inclusion of land off Saron Road,
Saron within the proposed Development Limits (Policy SD1) of the settlement, (with
the intentions of it then being developed for residential purposes) in the forthcoming
replacement Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan (LDP).
1.2 At this stage it is estimated that the Site is capable of accommodating 4 units,
although further detailed investigation is currently underway, which may result in the
Site being capable of accommodating more. As a result and in the absence of any
detailed guidance prepared by the Council on how it has assessed Development
Limits, this report has , where appropriate, been prepared in line with the Authority’s
published site assessment and selection documents, with regarded to full housing
allocations (5+ units). The contents of this report therefore address each point raised
within these documents, where relevant.
1.3 The contents of this report therefore provide a comprehensive case for the inclusion
of the land within the defined Development Limits for Saron to enable its future
development for residential development purposes as a windfall site, and it should
also be read in conjunction with the accompanying information and indicative drawing
package, as well as a sustainability assessment undertaken in-line with the
Authority’s requirements.
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
2.0 SITE CONTEXT
2.1 THE SITE AND CURRENT CONTEXT
2.1.1 The Alternative Site relates to an elongated parcel of land measuring approximately
1.3 acres in area in total, edged red on the plan and the photograph below.
Plan A
Photograph 1
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
2.1.2 At present, the site currently has a cleared appearance, as illustrated by the
photographs below:
Photograph 2 Photograph 3
2.1.3 As can be seen from the above photographs, the site is generally level. In addition, all
it’s boundaries are clearly and well defined, by a mix of domestic fences and some
trees. The southern boundary also then includes an open drainage feature. Finally, as
can be seen from Photograph1 and 2, the Site is separated from the more open
landscape to the north by a line of mature coniferous trees.
2.1.4 Access to the site is currently gained via a gateway that leads onto the adjoining
adopted highway (Saron Road), pictured below.
Photograph 4
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
2.1.5 As can be seen from Photograph 1, the Site directly adjoins the existing form of the
settlement of Saron on three sides, with the more open landscape (a former opencast
site) positioned then to the north east, beyond a private access road that runs along
the northern edge of the Site.
2.1.6 Under the provisions of the current Carmarthenshire LDP, the Site presently lies
within the defined Development Limits for Saron, as illustrated below.
Plan B
2.1.7 As can be seen, the current Development Limits follow that of the existing settlement
and features that separate its associated areas with the wider open landscape pattern
beyond. However, in the 2nd Deposit LDP, the Council have proposed to amend the
Development Limits for Saron to those illustrated in Plan C.
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
Plan C
2.1.8 As can be seen, the Alternative Site has now been removed, which appears to be the
only amendment to the Limits for the area in question. However, no explanation has
been provided within the published documentation for this decision by the Council,
which appears inconsistent with others taken for other settlements in the County,
such as those examples below:
Plan D
(Folland Road, Garnant)
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
Plan E
(Land off A483, Llanwrda)
2.1.9 The inclusion of the Alternative Site would therefore be consistent with other
decisions taken by the Council in the preparation of its Replacement LDP, particularly
as its position represent a natural and logical location for the settlement’s expansion.
2.2 THE ADJOINING SETTLEMENT
2.2.1 As detailed above, the Alternative Site adjoins the existing built form of the settlement
of Saron. Saron is primarily a linear style development in form, with its historic
development having taken place along Saron Road and Nant-y-Ci Road. In more
recent times, development has then occurred ‘in-depth’ off both these routes in the
form of Clos Nant-y-Ci, Parc y Mynydd and Y Hafod.
2.2.2 In terms of community facilities and local services, the settlement of Saron includes a
village hall, play area, places of worship, as well as a regularly served bus stop.
However, the site (indicated by the red star on Plan F) is in close proximity to the a
number of nearby settlements such as Capel Hendre, Penygroes, Tycroes and
Ammanford beyond.
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
Plan F
2.2.3 The strong sustainable position of the Alternative Site should therefore be given full
consideration when considering potential future growth options of all scales.
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
3.0 THE PROPOSAL
3.1.1 As detailed previously, this submission seeks an amendment to the currently
proposed Development Limits for the settlement of Saron, to include the land edged
red on Plan A. As detailed previously, the Site represents a logical part of the existing
settlement, having a greater affinity to its form than the open wider landscape to its
north east.
3.1.2 In addition to its inclusion being consistent with other decisions taken by the Council
with regards to Development Limits for other settlements in the County, the inclusion
of the Site would also represent a deliverable windfall housing site, capable of
delivering at least 4 units, as illustrated in the indicative site layout drawing
reproduced below.
Plan G
3.1.3 Access to serve the site would be directly off Saron Road and compliant with current
highway authority requirements. The Site would also have easy connection to all
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
services and utilities, as well as being capable of dealing with surface water in a
sustainable manner due to on-site attributes.
3.1.4 The following sections of this Report therefore now provide further confirmation that
the Alternative Site represents a windfall site capable of providing a deliverable
contribution to the local housing supply.
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
4.1 ECOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES
4.1.1 The Site does not contain any protected flora or fauna, or signs of their presence.
Notwithstanding this, any potential biodiversity assets the Site may include have been
given full consideration with regards to exploring its potential for residential
development. This has included the proposed retention and management of existing
site boundary features.
4.1.2 The Alternative Site has been assessed against data held on the “Magic Map”
website which details statutory and non-statutory National and Local sites of
ecological importance. Plan H below provides an extract of those records applied to
the Saron locality, with the red star denoting the position of the Alternative Site.
Plan H
4.1.3 As can be seen from the above, the Alternative Site does not form part of and neither
is it near any national or local designations. Although a number are within 2-4km of
the site, due to the intervening distance and topography, the development of the
Alternative Site will not have any detrimental impact on these features.
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
4.2 HISTORICAL ASSETS
4.2.1 Below is an extract from the ‘Archwilio’ website that represents a resource for the
Historic Environment Records of Wales, with the Alternative Site indicated by a red
star.
Plan I
4.2.2 As can be seen, neither the Alternative Site nor immediately adjoining settlement
includes any Scheduled Ancient Monuments, Listed Buildings or Conservation
Area’s. As a result, the development of the Site would not have any detrimental
impact on the setting or interest of any nearby historical asset.
4.3 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS
4.3.1 The Candidate Site is not categorised as being at risk of flooding in terms of the
Development Advice Maps or those produced by Natural Resources Wales, as
illustrated by the plans below (Alternative Site indicated by the red star).
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
Plan J
(Development Advice Maps)
Plan K
(Flood Maps for Planning)
4.3.2 Due to its greenfield nature, the Candidate Site has no ground contamination related
constraints.
Alternative Allocation Report April 2023
Land off Saron Road, Saron
5.0 CONCLUSION
5.1 Although currently undeveloped, the Alternative Site forms a logical extension to an
existing settlement, being well related to it and being positioned at a location within
the wider landscape to not form a prominent or logical part of the surrounding open
countryside. In fact, the Council’s current adopted development plan shares this
viewpoint and assessment, having included it within the Development Limits for the
settlement of Saron. Notwithstanding this, the Council has now determined to exclude
the Site from the Limits, but with no clear explanation as to why this has been done.
5.2 As discussed above, the Alternative Site is adjoined by the existing settlement and its
built form on three sides, with its remaining separated from the wider open landscape
by a strong natural feature in the form of mature trees. Its inclusion within the defined
Development Limits would on this basis alone represent a logical and consistent
decision.
5.3 The Alternative Site also does not face any constraints to its potential development in
terms of any ecological, flood risk, historic or ground condition interests. Combined
with this, the Site is also positioned in a sustainable location in terms of immediate
and wider community facilities and local services.
5.4 In view of the above and information provided in this Statement, it is respectfully
requested that the Alternative Site be included with the Development Limits for the
settlement of Saron.
