A failed appeal against a refusal of decking at a Pembrokeshire village pub, could still see more traditional looking safety improvements installed, National Park planners have heard.

Last year, Kath Lunn, of the Hibernia Inn, Angle, sought retrospective planning permission from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park to keep wooden decking installed at the front of the conservation area pub that April.

Kath Lunn, in her application said the decking was erected following a near miss with a child on the adjoining road.

“We felt it our duty of care to the customers to make the area safe,” she stated.

Concerns were raised about the design by the park’s building conservation officer, who said: “The works clearly neither preserve the character or appearance of the conservation area, especially the latter.

“There is potential here for an alternative scheme whereby the front garden is enclosed by a traditional wall and the tables and chairs provided within a nicely landscaped frontage.”

It was refused by park planners recommended refusal on the grounds of the impact it would have on Angle’s Conservation Area.

An appeal against the decision was later lodged with the Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) but was dismissed in part on the grounds of visual impact.

The Inspector noted the owner’s willingness to discuss alternative approaches, along with the suggestion that a traditional wall may be more appropriate.

At the July meeting of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority’s development management committee, members heard an update on recent appeals against authority planning decisions, with the Hibernia Inn case mentioned.

Members were told that while the dismissal of the appeal was “a win” for the authority, there was “still a way forward” for the applicants through further discussions with officers, potentially with more traditional materials as previously proposed by the building conservation officer.