A complex proposal to extend playing fields and pave the way for community infrastructure in Laugharne has been turned down by a Welsh Government-appointed planning inspector.

But he did award the company behind the scheme partial costs because of errors by Carmarthenshire Council.

Developer Sancler 3 Ltd had sought full planning permission from the council in 2024 to extend playing field land of Stoneway Road which hosts rugby and cricket matches and is maintained by a group called Laugharne Athletic Club.

Its application also sought outline consent to demolish existing changing rooms, build a sports pavilion/clubhouse, extend Laugharne Primary School, provide of an all-weather pitch and shared car park, and create a new 110m footpath.

The hybrid application, as it’s known, was rejected by the council early in 2025 because it wasn’t satisfied the removal of six mature trees, as proposed by Sancler 3 Ltd, was avoidable.

The council also considered the public benefits of a school extension, all-weather pitch, and shared car park weren’t “demonstrably achievable” in the lifetime of any planning permission given “the applicant’s intention is to provide the land to the county council who have no tangible plans or the necessary funding to carry out any of these developments”.

The council’s refusal decision added: “Similarly the proposed changing rooms are not being delivered by the applicant who proposes to transfer the land to the Laugharne Corporation who would be responsible for seeking funding for the development.”

There were two other grounds for refusal, including a failure to demonstrate why the existing sports pitches were substandard and why extending them was necessary to make them more usable.

Sancler 3 Ltd, which is behind house-building projects on land adjacent to the primary school and another site in Laugharne, appealed.

Planning inspector Jonathan Tudor said the main issues to consider were the effect of the hybrid application on trees, whether the public benefits that would be achieved could justify their removal, and the effect on the character and appearance of the area.

Mr Tudor said Sancler 3 Ltd had made efforts to avoid or minimise harm including the consideration of alternative siting and design options. Replacement tree planting was also proposed but the inspector said details were limited and could not provide sufficient confidence the required net biodiversity benefit would be achieved.

On the matter of the public benefits to justify the trees’ removal Mr Tudor said the council had made its position clear that it was highly unlikely to extend the primary school and build a new all-weather pitch and car park in the foreseeable future. The “achievability” of public benefits, he said, was unclear.

Sancler 3 Ltd’s position was that the council’s education department had had a long-term aspiration to extend the primary school as it said was confirmed at a pre-application meeting in February 2024.

Mr Tudor’s decision report said: “Notwithstanding earlier proposals that the council may have considered or aspirations that it or departments within it may have or have had and expressions of support for the proposals from the local community the council has made its current position clear. It states that the school extension, car park, and all-weather pitch are highly unlikely to be developed by it in the foreseeable future and that it has not signalled any intention to accept the ‘gifted’ land for those purposes.”

Mr Tudor went on to say the six ash, sycamore, and oak trees made a “significant positive contribution” to the character and appearance of the area. “While compensatory planting is intended, the trees proposed would take time to reach full maturity and details of their locations and confirmation that they could be safely accommodated within the site, alongside the other elements of the proposed development, are uncertain,” said his report upholding the council’s refusal.

The inspector also said the proposed 110m footpath linking Laugharne and Broadway would have some public benefit.

Mr Tudor, in a separate decision report, awarded Sancler 3 Ltd partial costs because he said errors “repeated rather than corrected” by the council relating to its description of the compensatory planting amounted to unreasonable behaviour. He asked Sancler 3 Ltd to provide the council details of those costs with a view to the two parties reaching an agreement.

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