As from 1st December all Planning Authorities must adhere to new flood maps and the revised advice in TAN 15. The revised maps and guidance have now, finally, incorporated the effect of climate change on future flooding events and coastal erosion across Wales, and not simply the current risk.
New developments of homes, the emergency services, schools and hospitals, must not be located in areas of high flood risk without strong flood defences.
One big chunk of Llanelli now comes under these new rules. See the crosshatch in the picture below. And one would assume that The Mark James Luxury Spa, the Wellness Village (now called Pentre Awel, for shame's sake) will, as objectors predicted, be under water in the next ten to fifteen years.
Pentre Awel will surround Delta Lake (the elongated lake in the picture) and further plans for housing and the 'Wellness Hotel' encroach further into the prohibited area.
All that's between the sea and Delta Lake at the moment is a faulty sluice gate. Flood defences are insufficient. Putting a few feet of topsoil to raise the area isn't going to help, this is the Carmarthenshire Canute Approach to building on flood plains.
Click to enlarge
Of course the plans for the Wellness Village were driven through by Mark James, and concerns about flooding, which were repeatedly raised, were rubbished. Other concerns, that the development was currently under criminal investigation and riddled with corruption, were also ignored.
And we also know that Mr James had a rather different agenda to everyone else.
As an objector I was present at the Planning Committee meeting in January 2019 when the decision was made, and Sian Caiach, a County Councillor at the time voiced her objection. I wrote an account of the event here, plus some background... Our presence in County Hall coincided with the announcement of Mr James' hurried retirement, which also enabled Sian to publicly wish the "arrogant control freak" her warmest wishes.
By July Mr James was having his door kicked in by the organised crime squad.
The Wellness Village, or Pentre Awel, was approved under the old maps, but with the current lack of any serious private investment, a history of corruption, a planning department not fit for purpose, the council already in debt by nearly half a billion, and the prospect of major flooding, perhaps it's time to take another look at the sauna-on-the-swamp...
19 comments:
Thanks Jacqui,
The flood risks of the land in Llanelli reclaimed from the see during the industrial revolution have been known for decades. The NRW and its predecessor the Environment Agency have not hidden the flood risks but the local Planning Officers have often suggested that all will be well if land is raised a certain level above the average tides and covered with whatever buildings are suggested. Of course the County Planning Department takes in quite a lot of planning fees and may have been reluctant to say "No" for that reason.
.
AS a councillor I was pilloried and laughed at by ignorant elected council members of all party persuasions. What did I know compared to the planning department's high level civil servants and executive Councillors??
These ordinary councillors were convinced by planning officers that estates of new homes and projects like the Wellness Centre would produce jobs and prosperity. These goodies were promised by chief executive Mark James and other officers. All that has been achieved on low ground is just putting people in harms way and little in the way of prosperity for Llanelli and local people.
Llanelli has not had a massive flood consuming much of the town since 1896 when an Atlantic hurricane completely broke through the flood defences in 2 places, at Machynys and in Pwll. Hundreds of homes (around 500) were flooded then and since this well documented event successive planning committees of Carmarthenshire County Council have simply approved even more building on the flood plain, both homes and businesses.
A councillor, also a member of the planning committee remarked to me that since there was a one in a hundred year chance of a major catastrophic flood in Llanelli and 1896 was more than a hundred years ago, "we are now all safe."
Recently NRW stated that within a few decades one in a hundred year flooding events could be annual. Probability is not a strong point amongst our planners, obviously.
My deepest concern is the lack of planning for a flood event. A large area of my council ward is at risk. What do I advise my local community? Luckily most of the homes at risk have 2 stories, so valuables can be moved to the upper floor but where do they take their cars, where can they safely gather to wait out a flood, how can they protect their properties?
All I got from writing to Emlyn Dole, the Council leader recently is silence. I think Climate Change is well known as a threat to our low lying homes and businesses but it seems that so far planning for an emergency has not been a priority in County Hall.
I really despair that even NRW has not been able to even give us a template of a general leaflet to advise local people. I am chilled by the fatalities in the German Floods recently where many people died trying to save their valuables from the the rapidly rising waters , becoming trapped themselves, especially in basements and in their cars. I don't want to see this on my patch! I would like proper flood warnings in good time and everyone at risk knowing where to go and the routes they should take.
Cllr Sian Caiach
Rural Councillor fpr Hengoed Ward
The revised advice in Tan 15 applies as well to the proposed housing development of the ex Grillo site in Burry Port, and its other neighbouring parcels of land for development on the eastern side of the harbour.
Pembrey was flooded in 1957.
Robin Burn
Burry Port
Legend has it that King Canute, ruler of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden, attempted to hold back the tide. Needless to say, he failed
Perhaps Wendy Walters and Emlyn Dole will have better luck
As usual this totally incompetent council,ignore advice ,and feather their own nests ,where is the Welsh Assembly to start sending in inspectors to run this shower ,you only have to look at the filthy state of Llanelli ,with litter and rubbish everywhere the Highly paid Council Directors should be totally ashamed of themselves ,and where is Plaid Cymru leadership to call them to account,what a shambles and a total disrespect for ratrpayers who pay their wages .
There was a report of the planning debacle in the western mail this week
It reported that staff were demorlaised and some where leaving and also the team lacked special knowledge in environment and climate change and surface water issues
Its the top team that should be leaving as the poor performance continues time and time again
Have they no shame Go and manage somewhere else if you dare
Anon 22:10
Yes indeed, the debacle continues, see also my blog post, (and the comments), from 8th September.
The blame lies squarely with the corporate management; the department has not been fit for purpose for years, thanks the rule of Mark James, Director of Environment Ruth Mullen, and not forgetting Wendy Walters as Director of Regeneration and Policy...and others I could mention.
The report, which the WalesOnline article is based on, also slammed Councillors for 'inappropriate behaviour' being 'readily available' to consultants and 'happy to discuss individual cases', with the potential for bribery and corruption....
Interestingly a former Labour County councillor @calumhiggins, has tweeted tonight and hit back at the council press office. He was defending councillors, but said, significantly, that "the real conflict [of interest] is the number of staff who worked part time and held part time consultant roles"
What? How bloody long has that been a thing?
The fact that all this was allowed to happen and no action taken is shocking.
One can only wonder at the number of flawed or dodgy planning decisions which have been made, or the number of brown envelopes which have changed hands... Though perhaps it's not surprising with Mark James running the show, he's not averse to a bribe or two. And by keeping the planning department dysfunctional enabled him to help out his friends (including Emlyn 'two barns' Dole) with lucrative decisions, and drive through some of the council's deeply flawed plans.
What a shambles.
@Sian Caiach 14:49
Indeed, the council should be concentrating urgently on how homes and businesses can be protected and defended from future catastrophic flooding, not adding to the mess with more housing and the scandal ridden Wellness Shed...
Is there a link to the Western mail report on planning mentioned above? Can’t find it…
Anon 13:13
The Western Mail article is here;
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/carmarthenshire-council-planning-review-applications-21710989
Another issue that stood out in the western mail report was this sentance
"It also said planning officers did not fully understand the council's wider regeneration and environmental ambition"
Who is directly in charge of the Council's regeneration brief - thats right Wendy Walters herself - I wonder if she under stands it also
I have read with utter disgust the story about 200 dogs being saved from a CARMARTHENSHIRE puppy farm in horendous condition - thankfully now looked after by caring people
What disgust me most is it is Carmarthenshire
I understand such checks on these illegal activities comes under the Environmental dept and environmental health and possibly planning re use of building etc.
The current situation with the planning and the head of environment these sites of puppy farms have no fear of discovery - lucklily others are more caring
These poor management reports have a consequence in the real World - this must be sorted out and bring other people into the Council to improve things
Talking of Pentre Awel, I have just noticed this report on Carmarthenshire County Council's website: https://newsroom.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/2021/10/council-appoints-contractor-to-start-delivering-llanelli-s-pentre-awel-scheme/#.YVsTgy1Q1Bw
@Anon 15:56
Yes, Bouygues UK have been appointed to do the construction, Gleeds are the management consultants for the build contract, alongside design consultants Arup who have been on the job since around 2016/7.
All will do very nicely I'm sure. Arup alone have been paid well over a million quid so far (probably far more, I'll have to do another FOI for updated figures), legal costs alone were over £200k even by December 2018. By June 2019 the council threw another £600k Arup's way for yet more design.
It's now nearing the end of 2021.
The spending on consultants has been endless, from PR consultants (including £25k to rebrand the Wellness Village to Pentre Awel, after the scandals), to VAT consultants and everything in between.
All this so far is just for 'Zone 1'. They can carry on spending on Zone 1 as apparently it doesn't require private investment (just millions of pounds of public money, council and City Deal).
The problem is that there's never been any sign of any private investment from the start. Any investors who took a passing interest fled when they realised it was a massive con and that the key players, Mark James, etc were there purely to line their own pockets. Mark James through his dishonesty and self-interest managed, singlehandedly, to almost scupper the entire £1.3bn City Deal.
Pentre Awel is highly unlikely to be "world class", nor bring the promised thousands of jobs or economic boost. It will be massively over budget, and no benefit to Llanelli other than a few low paid jobs. It will end up as another white elephant, subsidised by the taxpayer and, as usual, eventually refitted as council offices.
Plaid Cymru continue to follow the many rotten legacies of Mark James, as does his successor.
Anon 15:44
Yes, it's always Carmarthenshire. It's been in the top slot for illegal and cruel puppy farming for years. Shameful.
"update from councillor Emlyn Dole who is unable to advise on the serious flood risk or the rumours of road widening at Sandy Road through removing the front gardens. He needs to review the consultations first?
Dear Cllr. Caiach,
Thank you for your email regarding Sandy Road Llanelli.
You will be aware that the public has expressed concerns for some time regarding traffic congestion, delays and consequential air quality issues in on Sandy Road. The A484 is an important part of the highway network that supports the movement of goods and people. I can confirm that the Council has been working to find solutions to address those concerns.
Studies were undertaken to look at a deliverable solution that would address the concerns of the public and deliver an improvement within a reasonable timescale. The outcome of those studies has been subject to public consultation.
The feedback from the consultation exercise is currently being analysed before a decision is made on what can be delivered at Sandy Road.
Yours sincerely
E Dole
It is a shame that the farming community which we are made to believe is a tight knit group if you watch all these farming programmes on the BBC and Channel 5 don't report these puppy farms - they must know who they are
They are a disgrace to Carmarthenshire and reinforce the view farmers are poor on animal welfare
It would be good to think the authorities were on the case but we know how shambolic Carmarthenshire Council is in after failed CEO's and Councillors
Looks like flooding is of no importance as far as wellness is concerned.
The total investment is made up of £241 million of UK Government and Welsh Government funding, £330 million of other public sector money and £581 million from the private sector.
Seems that the private sector are opting out.
But where does the "other £330,000,000 public sector money come from ?
Not very clear on that at all.
@Anon 15:52
No, it's not very clear where all the public money is coming from and it never has been.
It's unlikely that the health boards have spare cash to squander, nor the Universities. The councils are likely to be borrowing huge sums for these projects with crippling interest payments. Carms Council is already in debt by £430m, costing around £18m per year in interest.
Bouygues contract just to build 'Zone 1' of the Wellness Shed is worth a cool £70m.
In other news, Audit Wales have issued a report on the council's waste services. Interestingly it states that Carms Council fly-tipping incidents have risen from 972 in 2015 to a massive 4,111 in 2020, 2nd highest in Wales, and, more to the point, the council currently has "no clear plan to
fundamentally address the root causes of the county’s fly-tipping problem".
As we know the Head of Planning left the council earlier this year, for 'personal reasons', the departure just happened to coincide with the publication of the damning Audit Wales report into the council's planning department. (See previous posts)
Next to go is the Director of Environment, Ruth Mullen, also in charge of planning, leaving her £132k post in December.
Not wishing to widen the gene pool outside the safety of County Hall, CEO Wendy Walters has decided to appoint an interim, internally, for 12 months. As the post is over £100k it still has to be 'approved' by full council.
Wonder who the lucky recipient will be.
Seems the rats are leaving the sinking ship
This what happens when you have poor management
There are plenty of jobs elsewhere so unless you are tied to Carmarthen by family or scared of leaving moving job is a good option
Why wait around and be punished or work for a crap manager
7 October 2021 at 20:12 - yes this happened in Pembrokeshire a few senior people left - they got rid of the CEO in the end the one that replaced James'contemporary Bryn Parry Jones
Now they have a Major General from Nato
Wendy Walters should be worried
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