Residents of Skrinkle Estate in Manorbier have accused the Pembrokeshire Housing Association of 'kicking the community while they are down'. The claim comes after it was revealed that Pembrokeshire Housing Association are submitting another application to develop more land at Skrinkle, this time on a recognised play area outlined in the JUDP in Dewing Avenue and used for over 35 years by the children of the estate. "Not content with having just gained approval for developing a site in Hounsel Avenue last month, which robbed the children of an area where the older teenagers played, Pembrokeshire Housing Association are now to proceed with an application to develop a very safe and well used site adjacent to the toddler play area, where children aged seven to 14 play whilst keeping an eye on their younger siblings," said Chas Cochrane, secretary of the Skrinkle Tenants And Residents Association (STAR). "It is a scandal and a disgrace that Pembrokeshire County Council have made the land available for sale without consultation in the first place; it is also a scandal and a disgrace that the Housing Association are pursuing the application without consultation or taking into account the serious concerns raised by residents, tenants and the children of the estate. They are just empire building! "It is well documented that this land has been played on by children of the estate for years and used by this association for holding events. They are taking away what is probably one of the safest play areas in the country. "We have been informed that PHA are to make Skrinkle their flagship and showpiece for social housing in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and intend to develop more plots within the boundaries of the estate," continued Mr. Cochrane. "Pembrokeshire Housing have commissioned from Cardiff a planning consultants report which, according to officers of PCNPA, means Skrinkle has no protection under JUDP policies." Mr. Cochrane claimed that the estate was being developed by stealth, to abuse the policies that were supposed to be in place to protect residents. "By taking only small parcels of land at a time, they override these policies," he stated. "If you took the land area as a whole which they have already developed and applied to build on, they couldn't get approval because policies in place would protect us. "It is nothing short of scandalous and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Development Committee should be ashamed of themselves for allowing it to happen under their noses by giving approval for piecemeal development. "We warned our members back in May that PHA could completely envelope our estate with development and we believe that in addition to this plan, there are plans in place to submit bigger and bolder developments within the Skrinkle, Wheelers Way/Windy Ridge estates," added Mr. Cochrane, who also said that the STAR Association would be opposing the application with the support of their community council.

PARK RESPONSE

A spokesman for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority said: "The authority has received a report from consultants acting on behalf of the applicant, Pembrokeshire Housing Association, regarding the Dewing Avenue application. "That report has been studied and it does demonstrate that open space for play purposes in Manorbier and the surrounding community more than meets the standards identified by the National Playing Fields Association. It is not considered that a refusal of the application based solely on the argument that the play space would be lost to the detriment of the community would be justified and it would not stand up on appeal. "The authority's officers are concerned about the practicalities of achieving a satisfactory form of development on this site, particularly given the orientation of adjoining dwellings. Meetings have been arranged with the applicant to discuss this matter further. "Officers have not yet made any recommendation regarding this application and the final decision will be taken by the authority's development management committee at a date yet to be confirmed," they added.