Bluestone plans have ‘landed’

Plans for the multi-million pound Bluestone project have been received by National Park planners.

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority's development control officer, Mrs. Cathy Milner, told Wednesday's planning meeting that the official application for the controversial tourism and leisure development in the Canaston/Minwear area had 'landed' this week.

The application was extensive, accompanied by environmental impact assessments and further details.

Part of the application area was within the National Park, while the remainder fell under the remit of Pembrokeshire County Council as planning authority, Mrs. Milner told members.

In initial stages, both authorities would be working together over consultation with the various bodies, although Mrs. Milner admitted that there "may be a divergence of opinion" when it came to making a recommendation on the plan as both authorities would be looking at different factors.

With the volume of detail in the application, and the Christmas break on the horizon, Mrs. Milner did not envisage officers would be in a position to make any recommendation on the application until February.

At the suggestion of Mr. Edward Holdaway, it was agreed that an early site meeting would aid committee members in focusing their minds on the project and its location and could shorten the decision making process.

Clr. Bill Roberts expressed his amazement that the Welsh Assembly had already offered £16.5 million in grant aid for the scheme without planning permission being granted.

However, fellow committee member, Mr. Huw Davies, said that it was quite normal for projects of this scale to "sort out their funding lines prior to making an application."