Scout Hall plan to be refused?

Controversial plans for the erection of 10 residential flats over a new Scout and Guide Hall in Warren Street, Tenby, look set to be refused. The application is due to come before members of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park's development management committee next week. At a previous meeting, it had been deferred so that Pembrokeshire County Council's highways department could assess the acceptability of existing parking facilities in Tenby being improved by the developer as compensation for a lack of on-site parking facilities within the proposed development. Following lengthy discussions on the matter, however, it has now been established that the head of infrastructure management for the county council does not consider there is an alternative to providing off-highway parking as part of this proposal. As a result, the applicants, GKV Developments, have been requested to amend their scheme to include parking facilities, but they do not feel they can do this and have requested that the application be put to the committee as submitted. The proposed development, which has been amended since the original submissions, would see the creation of a four-storey building, housing a new Scout and Guide Hall on the ground floor, with six one-bedroom flats and four two-bedroom flats at first, second and third floor levels. National Park officers are recommending refusal of the application, claiming that the proposed scheme would "adversely affect highway safety, given the scale of the development which will generate a demand for vehicle parking. "If the proposal were approved as it stands, it would result in increased on-street parking from visitors using the Scout and Guide Hall and also from each of the residential units," their report to the committee states. The views of the National Park officers and the head of infrastructure management for the county council have also been supported by Dyfed Powys Police, who have expressed their objections on highway safety ground. Meanwhile, concern has also been expressed over the adverse impact the building's elevated level would have on the amenity and privacy of residential properties to the rear of the site.