A long-running planning saga continued this week when members of the National Park's development management committee deferred their decision on an application for a new visibility splay sight line on land adjacent to The Incline, The Ridgeway, Saundersfoot. The land adjacent to The Incline is currently the site for a residential development by A. J. Collins Building Contractor. However, local residents are concerned about further future developments on the land, mainly due to the safety implication on what they feel is an already dangerous road. "This site has been the subject of a number of planning applications, with the most recent ones having sought to comply with the condition imposed on the outline permission that required the provision of a sight line from the centre of the new estate road in both directions along The Ridgeway of 3m x 70m," explained development control officer, Mrs. Cathy Milner, at Monday's meeting. "This current application seeks an amendment to the condition originally imposed and asks that the sight line condition measurements be altered so that a sight line of 2.4m x 70m is provided, which the applicant considers is adequate in this particular set of circumstances," she continued. A number of residents, however, remain concerned at what they see as a reduction in the standard being adopted, querying that if the sight line standard was satisfactory, then why was it not applied at the time of the original outline permission and again drawing attention to the dangers that the introduction of another junction would have on this fast section of road. Two residents of the area, Mrs. Joy Hands and Saundersfoot community councillor Mrs. Mary Cavell, were present at the meeting to voice their concerns, after hearing that, following a site inspection, the highway authorities felt that the current sight line proposal would be acceptable. "This is a very dangerous road and this access would make it worse," said Clr. Mrs. Cavell. "I don't think that approval should be given today until further investigation into the proposal has been made." Mrs. Hands had a similar point to make when responding to comments made by Mr. Ian Ponsford, of Pembrokeshire County Council, who explained that after visiting the site, he was "satisfied that the sight line reduction does not make the proposed access inherently more dangerous." But Mrs. Hands disagreed, claiming: "If this access is allowed to go ahead, I fear that people's lives will be at risk. "The whole issue needs to be investigated and I urgently ask for a further deferment of the application to allow full consideration by all parties concerned," she said. However, Mr. Hole, of Willis and Hole Ltd., who are representing the applicants, dismissed the concerns. "The digital surveys we have carried out on the sight line are highly accurate and I can assure you that the proposed access is safe," he said. "There is no evidence to suggest that this section of road is no more or less dangerous than any other town in Pembrokeshire." The committee decided to defer the application for another month in order for the highway authorities to meet with the local residents, and to also discuss what traffic calming measures could be introduced.
