Retrospective Plans for Timber Cabins in Talgarth Field Rejected by Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority

RETROSPECTIVE plans to legitimise the building of two timber cabins at a field in Talgarth have been rejected by Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority (BBNPA) planners.
In May, BBNPA received a retrospective planning application from Faye Stevenson-Davies to change the use of a field at land east of Coed y Bryn from agricultural to health and wellbeing.
This was so that the two timber cabins at the site, which is also called “Lucy’s Field”, could be properly sanctioned under planning law.
The change of use took place between April and July 2021.
In July, Talgarth Town Council asked for more time to allow councillors to discuss the proposal.
This was because it does not have a meeting in August and the consultation period to receive comments on the application ended on August 20.
Earlier this month, Talgarth Town Council met and discussed the application.
Talgarth Town Council said that councillors “felt they cannot support this planning application due to the resulting loss of agricultural land.”
In her report, BBNPA senior planning officer Lisa Williams pointed out that Talgarth Town Council had objected to the proposal as it was unable to support the loss of agricultural land in this location.
As there was no suitable information to support the loss of agricultural land in the documentation, Ms Williams said that BBNPA was “unable to support” the proposal.
This lack of information became a running theme throughout Ms Williams’ report.
Ms Williams said: “Insufficient information has been provided in regard to the intensity of use of the proposal to fully demonstrate that there will be no unacceptable impact to highway safety.
“In terms of neighbour amenity, there are residential properties surrounding the site as well as a public footpath.
“There would be some disruption to the amenity of the immediate area as a result of vehicles visiting the site, however, there is insufficient information to consider this point fully.”
Ms Williams continued: “In terms of the proposed use as a health and well-being facility, again insufficient information has been provided to fully demonstrate that the use is of an intensity appropriate to the location with surrounding residential properties.”
“As a result of insufficient information being provided to enable a full assessment of all relevant matters of this case, the authority is unable to conclude that the development is acceptable in line with national and local planning policy.”
Due to this, she refused the application.
A planning statement lodged in support of the application had tried to explain that the use of the field for health and wellbeing purposes had “evolved” over time across the whole site and not just where the cabins are located. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

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