A previously refused call for the relocation of a Pembrokeshire farm diversification scheme which packages and distributes specialist medical equipment across Europe will now be decided by councillors rather than officers.

Back in July an application by Mr Van Der Spoel of Castle Villa Farm, Hayscastle, through agent Harries Planning Design Management, seeking permission for the relocation and expansion of an existing farm diversification business into an existing agricultural building was refused by planning officers.

A supporting statement for that application said the applicant, together with his wife and adult daughter ran the farm diversification business packing specialist medical supplies at their 135-acre sheep farm.

It added: “The business run from this site is FRIO ASTRID EURO Ltd, which has a franchise agreement with FRIO UK. This business has been run from Castle Villa since its incorporation in 1998. The business was initially run from the stable building on the farmyard at Castle Villa.

“The business set-up involves receiving stock from FRIO UK in Wolfscastle, packaging orders and distributing the stock to seven Western Europe countries.”

Wolfscastle-based FRIO produces the world’s first patented insulin cooling wallet which keeps insulin and other temperature-sensitive medicines cool and safe.

The scheme for the business, said to have outgrown its current site, was refused by county planners on grounds including a lack of “robust evidence” to prove it couldn’t be sited within a nearby settlement or an allocated employment site”.

Since then, an application seeking to address the reasons for refusal has been submitted.

At the request of local member Cllr Mark Carter a call for the scheme to be decided by full planning committee rather than delegated for officers to decide was heard at the October 21 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning delegation panel.

Calls for any application which falls under delegated powers to instead be decided by committee must meet one or more of three criteria.

Cllr Carter made his call under the third criteria, that issues are raised which highlight conflicting planning policy issues, but the application was recommended to remain delegated to officers.

Speaking at the meeting he said the business run from the site employed two full time and one part-time staff, accounting for some 20 per cent of the business of nearby FRIO UK, which employs some 20 people in its own right.

He said, since the previous refusal, an independent survey had found no suitable alternative premises, adding there could be potential job losses if the scheme wasn’t approved, urging the application be decided by committee.

Members heard the local community council was “astonished” there was opposition to the scheme, Cllr Carter adding there had been “not an ounce of complaint in all the time it’s been in operation”.

Another speaker in support was Cllr Michelle Bateman, representing a neighbouring ward, who stressed the interdependency between the two businesses, saying the application would benefit from a full discussion by the planning committee.

Following a call by new committee vice-chair Cllr Huw Murphy, members backed the scheme be decided by full committee, the application now being heard at a future planning committee.