Care home plan held up

Richard Youle, Local democracy reporter.

Multi-million-pound plans for a council care home in west Wales are temporarily on hold following legal advice, a meeting heard. 

The council’s planning committee was due to determine an application for a new 60-bed care home in Cwmgwili, near Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire which was recommended by officers for approval. 

But planning officer Hugh Towns, addressing the committee, said there was a hold-up. 

Mr Towns said the council had initially followed case law advice, which said an application could be considered without a habitats regulation assessment and be delegated to the council’s head of place and sustainability department. 

He said, however, that the situation has changed. “Unfortunately, the advice that we’ve had is that it cannot happen for developments that have been proposed by the county council. Therefore, this application cannot be considered this morning.” 

The council proposes to knock down the former two-storey 32-bed Plas Y Bryn care home off Thornhill Road and build a three-storey one in its place. 

The new Plas Y Bryn care home would provide residential and nursing care for older people, people with a physical disability or sensory impairment, people with learning disabilities, and people with a range of mental health concerns, including dementia. 

The en suite accommodation would be via five so-called suites, and the home would also include office space, kitchen, laundry facilities and a doctor’s room. There’d also be two gardens located to catch morning and afternoon sunshine, plus other landscaping. 

The report said the site fell within a special area of conservation called Caeau
Mynydd Mawr, and that a financial contribution of £8,438 was required to ensure impacts on it were appropriately mitigated. 

No representations were received from the public about the application.
It was referred to the planning committee, as the council has a significant financial interest in it and owns the site. 

The committee report said the care home would “significantly improve the quality of care available in the area” as well as create a larger care home than its predecessor. 

Councillors passed a budget at the end of February which earmarked a £13.7 million tranche of an approved £20 million sum for the project, to be spent in 2026-27. 

The budget report said the new care home would reduce revenue costs for the council because many people who currently received costly privately delivered care would go there. It added that there had already been a slight delay because of new planning guidance on marine nitrates. 

Mr Towns said the application would come back before the committee. “It will have to be considered at a future meeting,” he said.