Plans advance for development of more than 1,000 new homes

Richard Youle Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for 84 new homes with heat pumps have been unveiled as part of a plan for a major development of 1,100 new dwellings.

Housebuilder Lovell Partnerships Ltd wants to build them in a field off Ffordd Pendre, west of Carmarthen town centre and north of the A40.

Half of them would be for sale on the open market and the other half would be available for social rent or low-cost home ownership. They’d range from one-bed to four-bed and access would be via a roundabout at Ffordd Pendre.

A design and access statement submitted as part of Lovell Partnerships’ planning application to Carmarthenshire Council said air source heat pumps would heat all the 84 homes along with a system which captured heat from shower waste water to further boost energy efficiency.

The properties would also have electric vehicle charging points and solar panels would be installed on the homes for social rent.

More than a quarter of the eight-acre development site would comprise open spaces, play areas, paths, new planting, and surface water soakaways. New hedges and 155 trees are proposed.

The plans aim to create a neighbourhood that “will set a quality precedent in the rapidly-developing wider area”, said the design and access statement, and a place residents would be proud to call home.

The development land in question is part of a much larger site allocated for 1,100 new homes, a school, employment areas, and recreation space.

The design and access statement said 157 parking spaces were proposed at the Lovell Partnerships site plus 235 bike spaces. It added there were bus stops in Ffordd Pendre but no buses serving them as yet.

A transport assessment on the applicant’s behalf said the impact of the extra traffic on the surrounding road network would be negligible.

People and groups have been consulted on the plans at a pre-application stage. A person living nearby asked about potential impacts on privacy, air quality, the value of their house, and whether the transport assessment accounted for other developments nearby.

The applicant’s response was that the transport assessment examined the impact of the 84-home proposal now and in the future including on the Ffordd Pendre-A40 eastbound junction. Council planning officers are considering the application.