A site visit following concerns raised about the design and scale of a hotel to be built on Milford Haven marina will not go ahead but the deadline for public submissions has been extended .

Members of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee had been due to visit Milford Haven marina on April 15 to see where the Port Authority plans to build its 100-bedroom hotel before making a decision on reserved matters.

However, due to restrictions on non-essential travel and gathering in groups a report to an urgency committee, which met on Monday (March 30), were asked to decide if it was necessary.

At the suggestion of Clr. Paul Miller, it was resolved that it not be held but councillors and public would have until April 15 to make any further submissions about the application, before a decision is made under the new terms of delegation which includes greater councillor involvement, agreed at the same meeting.

If planning permission is granted for the hotel plan the Port Authority has contractors already lined up and “therefore any delay beyond the date of the next programmed Planning Committee (April 21) could have serious economic consequences for this element of the redevelopment and the redevelopment of the Waterfront as a whole,” states a report by director of communities, Dr Steven Jones.

The principal of the development has already been approved with the site visit relating to the design details of the hotel.

Clr. Michael Williams said members had been told in the past that decisions needed to made quickly due to commercial interests but in this case local councillors, and residents, had raised a number of issues and he too had concerns about the aesthetics of the building.

“Democratic interests must come first, not the commercial interest of any one individual or company,” he said. “I don’t think any contractors could really go on sire if the Port Authority is a responsible employer until the coronavirus pandemic is put to sleep.”