Progress is expected to be made in 2022 on the development plan for Tenby’s Brynhir site.

Pembrokeshire County Council was granted outline planning permission for a development of 144 properties in 2020, but progress on the scheme has been held up since the start of the pandemic.

In 2018, the local authority which already owned the 15-acre site, purchased the land for £4million using its Housing Revenue Account (HRA).

PCC currently hopes to gain full planning permission and start construction on the site in the coming months.

At Brynhir 102 of the homes will be rented social housing, where the rent is lower than market rent, and will not be available for purchase.

A Local Lettings Policy will ensure that those with a connection to Tenby and the surrounding area are prioritised for the new properties.

These will stay in Council ownership – the Right To Buy, which enabled tenants of council housing to buy their properties, was abolished in Wales in January 2019.

There will also be eight shared ownership homes on the land, which will help those who cannot afford to buy a home on their own to get a step on the property ladder.

The remaining properties will be available to buy on the open market.

Discussing any updates on the development at the most recent meeting of Tenby town council, members were told by county councillor Mike Evans that he had been in a meeting with HRA, Chief housing officer Gaynor Toft, and the authority’s structural engineer Chris Pratt, amongst others earlier that week.

Clr. Evans reported to his fellow members that progress was being made on the development, with community engagement in the process of being planned and a consultancy firm appointed, as well as architects for the scheme.

“PCC are going to lay out their plans for public engagement soon. Things are progressing, but unfortunately not at pace due to staffing capacity issues at County Hall,” said Clr. Evans.

The planned development has not been without its controversies, with members of the ‘Save Brynhir Greenspace and Wildlife’ group (now renamed Tenby Green Space Preservation Society) campaigning against the scheme since plans to develop the land were announced, due to the area being one of the few green spaces left in the locality.

However, PCC have stated that ‘recreation and ecology’ will be central to the Brynhir design, which will include a multi-use games area, two equipped play areas, open space and a five metre wide ecological buffer around the central field.

This buffer will create a circular walk around the development, and give more opportunities for the existing ecology and biodiversity to flourish, the county council have stated.