Specialist farm diversification scheme gets go-ahead

Bruce Sinclair, Local democracy reporter.

A call for the relocation of a Pembrokeshire farm diversification scheme, which packages and distributes specialist medical equipment across Europe, has been given the final go-ahead by councillors.

In an application recommended for refusal at the March meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, Mr Van Der Spoel sought permission for the relocation and expansion of an existing farm diversification business into an existing agricultural building at Castle Villa, Hayscastle.

The proposals were before full council rather than its planning committee, as members had twice gone against officer recommendations of refusal with a ‘minded to’ support for the scheme, and a ‘cooling off’ period, meaning a final decision would need to be made by all councillors.

Last July, a similar application by Mr Van Der Spoel, through agent Harries Planning Design Management, was refused by planning officers.

A supporting statement for that application said the Dutch-born applicant, together with his wife and adult daughter, ran the farm diversification business, packing specialist medical insulated insulin supplies at their sheep farm.

It added: “The business run from this site is FRIO ASTRID EURO Ltd, which has a franchise agreement with FRIO UK. This business has been run from Castle Villa since its incorporation in 1998. The business was initially run from the stable building in the farmyard at Castle Villa.

“The business set-up involves receiving stock from FRIO UK in Wolfscastle, packaging orders and distributing the stock to seven Western European countries.”

Wolfscastle-based FRIO produces the world’s first patented insulin cooling wallet, which keeps insulin and other temperature-sensitive medicines cool and safe.

The scheme for the business, said to have outgrown its current site, was refused by county planners on grounds including a lack of “robust evidence” to prove it couldn’t be sited within a nearby settlement or an allocated employment site, such as Haverfordwest.

The latest application was recommended for refusal on similar grounds.

Agent Wyn Harries has previously said his client’s business, selling into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany, accounted for some 20 per cent of FRIO UK’s trade on its own, adding that previous articles on the planning application in the Western Telegraph had shown a great deal of public support for the applicants.

At the January meeting, local member, and chair of the planning committee, Cllr Mark Carter moved approval, delegated to senior officers on receipt of a Section 106 legal agreement, saying the proposals had community council support, adding it was “hard not to support a business that keeps local jobs and keeps a family farm viable”.

Cllr Michelle Bateman, whose neighbouring ward has FRIO UK’s base, said she was “fully supportive” of Cllr Carter’s call.

Members were warned of the danger of potentially setting a precedent by going against officer recommendations, with both former leader Cllr David Simpson and Cllr Michael Williams expressing their concerns at going against the officers recommendations.

Cllr Carter’s call, against the recommendation of refusal, was passed by 28 votes to 15, with one abstention.