Carmarthenshire councillors have said they are minded to approve the details of plans for 205 apartments and houses at Machynys West in Llanelli.
But permission for the development by Charles Church Wales cannot be released until the Welsh Assembly Government lifts a stop notice.
A meeting of the planning committee discussed the application in the heart of Llanelli Waterside on the southern edge of Llanelli to the south east of the town centre.
The reserved matters application sought permission for the construction of 205 residential apartments and dwellings with associated access and landscaping.
The plans involve a mixture of 124 two, three and four bedroom houses, including 21 affordable units, together with a further 81 apartments.
An environmental impact assessment has been carried out and an environmental statement prepared. The key issues include water quality in the Loughor Estuary, and foul and surface water disposal.
The data analysis indicates that the water quality in the Estuary is considerably better now than it was 10 years ago and that the trend is continuing. But further phosphate reduction at the waste water treatment works is needed to improve the quality of waters in the estuary. Welsh Water is currently investigating the feasibility of providing the phosphate removal measures to facilitate the greatest reduction in phosphate load on the estuary. The ES states that there is no definitive causal link which proves that sewage effluent may be directly responsible for the seasonal shellfish mortalities.
The ES has established that the current improvements by Welsh Water will provide sufficient storage and capacity to accommodate the proposed development and all other committed developments within the locality for the next 10 to 15 year period.
In terms of Community Benefit contributions, a Unilateral Undertaking submitted by the applicant’s offers the following contributions, education – £458,240 to be provided before the occupation of the 100th dwelling; open space – £215,000 to be provided before the occupation of the 50th dwelling; affordable housing – 10 per cent on site provision (21 units), a mixture of one and two bed units to be provided in the first two phases of the development.
Head of planning Eifion Bowen said: “The release of the planning consent is dependent upon the Welsh Assembly Government lifting the stop notice and on the Countryside Council for Wales agreeing to the authority’s assessment of the impact on the environment.
“The consent will include conditions preventing development before the improvements to the Welsh Water infrastructure is completed.”
