National Park planners have given the go-ahead for a new retail and accommodation development in Saundersfoot. Members of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park development management committee gave the thumbs up last Friday to an application for the re- development of the site of the former Teggars Brewery building in Brewery Terrace, which in recent years has been occupied on the ground floor by a retail discount store. The scheme will see the existing structure, which has been empty for several months, demolished and replaced with a new building comprising of three storeys, with a Tesco Express store on the ground floor and commercial offices and three maisonettes on the two storeys above. National Park planning officer, Vicki Hurst, told members that the redevelopment was welcomed as the site was in such a poor state. "As members will be aware, this building has fallen into a considerable state of disrepair and is at present detracting from the appearance and character of the adjacent Conservation Area," she explained. However, the owners of the adjoining building, The Mulberry, raised some concerns, along with Saundersfoot Community Council, about how the proposals would affect the restaurant's business. Concerns were also raised regarding deliveries and shoppers to the new store having nowhere to stop, creating more possible traffic congestion on a route that already experienced major problems. Pembrokeshire County Council's highways officer had previously recommended that as the development did not provide any additional car parking and increased the retail floor area, a transportation contribution should be made by the developers to cover mitigation works for the increased trip generation. The highways officer also requested a contribution towards ongoing promotion, improvement and provision of public transport, cycle and walking infrastructure, as the proposal increased the number of commercial units and dwelling units. Development management committee member, Clr. Mike Evans, felt that this avenue should be explored. "There's a dire need to improve the pavements along there and I'm sure that if you gave the village's county councillor £10,000 to spend on improvements, then he could spend it on that area alone," he said. "If you put a Tesco in that location, you are going to see a dramatic increase in traffic, so it's vital that the flow of the one-way system around the village is improved," he added. Fellow member David Ellis welcomed the development. "This is a fantastic improvement on an absolutely critical site in Saundersfoot," he said. "Hopefully this will result in the whole of the terrace being developed in the near future." Members voted unanimously in favour of approving the application.
