A major housing and commercial development is in the pipeline for the centre of Narberth. Pembrokeshire County Council has received an application from Mr. G. Perfect, of Tavernspite, for full planning permission to build two shops, eight apartments and five garages at 40/41 High Street/Queen's Court. The application has been delegated to officers, but was considered by Narberth Town Council's planning committee on Tuesday night. After discussing the matter, those present, namely Deputy Mayor, Clr. David Norcross and Clrs. Owain Martin, Sue Rees, Anthony Richards and Colin Williams, objected to the proposal for the following reasons. • The town council were not happy with the design of the application as they felt it was out of character with the current High Street facade. • Members felt that both buildings immediately behind the proposed development would dominate the skyline as they would be readily seen from all angles in the High Street. • Whilst the town council was happy that the ground floor would be used for commercial properties, they were disappointed that the developer felt that there was only a need for two shops, as they believed there was a demand for a least four separate retail outlets. • Given the number of dwelling developments within the town and the future allocation, members felt it inappropriate that a further eight flats should be imposed in Queen's Court. • A point that concerned the town council greatly was with regard to the parking facility that appeared to be offered on the plan, namely eight flats with five parking spaces and without provision for the staff of the planned retail outlets. Whilst the council understood that a number of parking spaces would be provided on the Mart Ground, this seemed unviable given the distance. The council understood that there was proposed provision for public parking within the Mart Ground and were anxious that this provision may be reduced to accommodate the Queen's Court residents. • The council believed that the regulations stated that there should be one-and-a-half parking spaces per residence and were therefore concerned as this was not provided for within the planning application. The town council felt that the provision of five garages would take up a lot more room than providing parking spaces only for these cars and as such believe that the space would be better utilised as a parking area, especially as the county council were considering demolishing garages within another area of Narberth to make more parking places. At the meeting, the clerk, Mrs. Caroline Coaker, read a copy of a letter which the town's Chamber of Trade had sent to Pembrokeshire County Council objecting to the reduction in commercial properties being made available in the High Street. In addition, Clr. Williams also reported a copy of an objection letter he had received from a resident of Queen's Court. FOOTNOTE: At Tuesday night's planning meeting, apologies were received from the Mayor, Clr. Henry Langen, and Clr. Eric Feetham. Although Clr. Feetham was not present at the meeting, he had seen the plans and his comments were noted.
