Testun llawn:
This document supports the promotion of Land South of Lon Fair, St Clears. The Site would
represent a significant contribution to meeting housing need and, in particular, the anticipated
demand associated with the new hospital site being delivered in the area.
Strategic Policy SP 1 sets out the preferred Spatial Strategy for Camarthenshire. The focus of
Policy SP 1 is on regeneration and growth, which reflects the Councils core strategic ambitions
with development distributed in a sustainable manner consistent with the spatial strategy and
settlement hierarchy. This confirms that the distribution of housing is sought to be directed to
sustainably located areas, whereby there is a known potential for projected growth.
The Spatial Strategy identifies a settlement hierarchy to meet the identified housing
requirement of 8,882 new homes. The strategy furthermore recognises the role employment
plays in creating a prosperous County – with appropriate growth of housing with jobs and
employment opportunities. This strategy has been informed by a number of ongoing
assessments, through various sages leading up to its publication.
At Preferred Strategy stage (published December 2018) it was determined that a strategic
growth option based upon a ‘Population Growth Long Term’ scenario would be the most
appropriate option for the authority area. This was promoted by the authority on the basis that
it would best assist in delivering the Plan’s Vision and Strategic Objectives, driving sustainable
housing growth and supporting the economic ambitions of the county. This scenario equated to
a need over the revised LDP period for 9,887 dwellings on the basis of the variant vacancy rate.
These figures were based upon a Population and Household Forecast Paper published by Edge
Analytics in October 2018 on behalf of the LPA in order to inform the Preferred Strategy, when
NHS plans for a new super-hospital on the Pembrokeshire-Carmarthenshire border were at an
early formative stage, and consequently were not accounted for within the forecast.
The Population and Household Forecast Paper was updated by Edge Analytics in September
2019 to inform the 1
st Deposit rLDP, which updated housing requirement scenarios in light of
new evidence, including Carmarthenshire’s 2018 mid-year population estimate and the
consultation on the then draft National Development Framework. Again however this did not
account for any growth associated with the new super-hospital.
In February 2023 the LPA published a Population and Household Topic Paper to inform the 2nd
Deposit rLDP, which utilised data from a Housing and Economic Growth Paper prepared by
Turley (with the support of Edge Analytics). This provided an updated analysis of housing need,
reflecting the “WG 2018-based sub national population and household projections, in addition
to other population estimated published since the first Deposit Revised LDP”. Despite, however,
the fact that the location for the new super-hospital had, by this stage, been narrowed down to
just three sites within a 5 mile area (2 in Whitland, and 1 in St Clears), the implications of the
hospital on housing need/growth was not a consideration in the adjustments to the figures.
Policy SP 1 projects a target of 9,704 new homes to meet the identified housing requirement of
8,822, informed by the above assessments. The aim of Policy SP 1 is to facilitate the delivery of
new homes in sustainably located areas. The assessments which informed these projected
figures were undertaken before the implementation of the hospital was confirmed in the area.
Therefore, the housing need is greater than what is identified, and the distribution of housing
should furthermore be directed to sustainably located areas near the hospital.
Supporting text 11.11 of Policy SP 1 state that:
“by ensuring that our housing growth requirements are reflective of, and are in support of our
economic ambitions, it allows for a co-ordinated and integrated approach to ensure that the
shared role for economic growth is not in isolation of housing and vice a versa.”
It has been acknowledged that the search for a suitable location for the new hospital has made
progress since the publication of the Preferred Strategy. The search has narrowed down to only
three sites, all situated within a 5-mile radius of the promotion site. One of these sites is
located just a few hundred meters away. (See fig.1 below). Considering the significant potential
for job creation during both construction and operation that the hospital is expected to bring, it
is imperative that the LDP is capable of providing adequate levels of new homes in sustainable
locations near the hospital.
Fig.1 Proposed Potential Hospital Site: -
See Candidate Site Representation Document
See 2nd Deposit Plan LDP Representation Document
