Plans to build a retirement village on land between Tenby and New Hedges were given the go-ahead by Pembrokeshire County Council this week. At a meeting on Tuesday at County Hall, members of the authority's planning and rights of way committee approved the outline plans submitted by the applicants, GKV Developments, for the construction of 132 retirement apartments on land adjacent to Park House Court Nursing Home on Narberth Road. The development will also comprise a resources centre, wardens accommodation, swimming pool/ hydrotherapy unit and other medical facilities on the site. The units are designed to provide independent living for individuals or couples, each with its own front door, but designed for later life. Planning officers believed the range of existing health care facilities available on the site at Park House Court Nursing Home provided a strong functional justification for siting the proposed development in this location, even though it would be a departure from the provisions of the Joint Unitary Development Plan (JUDP). The applicants have agreed to limit the occupancy to over 55s, with a draft 106 agreement also offered to secure the linkage of the occupancy of the units to a care package of different grades, linked to need and delivered through the Park House Court facility. Phase one of the proposed development would see two blocks of accommodation built comprising of 45 units, together with all infrastructure, including landscaping along the site frontage, and the construction of the hydrotherapy pool and resource centre, including wardens accommodation. Further phases of the development would not commence until at least 50 per cent of the units of the first phase had been sold and all the infrastructure elements had been completed. "Park House Court Nursing Home is a very well run establishment and is one of the best, if not the best, facility of its kind in Pembrokeshire and West Wales. I willingly support the officers recommendation for approval of this new retirement village; it will be a huge plus for Pembrokeshire," stated Clr. Brian Hall at the meeting, with the majority of members also voting in favour of the outline plans.
