Dear Editor

In response to the letter from Derek Rowland (Letters, March 10th), with any planning approval, the responsibility for building in accordance with the permitted plans lies with the developer.

If a developer chooses to build something that is not in accordance with approved plans, the authority may take enforcement action, which may require the building to be demolished.

In the case of Bettws Newydd, the development management committee decided last October that the house as built, unacceptably deviated from the approved plans, and that enforcement action was warranted.

However, government guidance requires the developer to be given an opportunity to respond before formal enforcement action begins.

In this case, the developer has responded by submitting a fresh planning application with additional measures to overcome the authority’s objections to what has been built.

The authority has a statutory obligation to consider this application and it is currently being assessed, including an extensive consultation process. A detailed investigation is being undertaken of the differences between the permission granted in 2006 and what has actually been built, and these will be fully itemised in a report. The replacement dwellings policy was considered in 2006, together with responses to consultation, and it was resolved that granting planning permission would not be unacceptable and that the development was acceptable in this particular landscape setting.

The new application will be considered against the current development plan policy framework.

The majority of new buildings and extensions have been successfully assimilated into this precious landscape and I would hope that whatever an individual thinks about this particular decision, they would be able to see the wider picture and recognise what this authority has already achieved.

Cllr Michael Williams
Chairman of development management committee,
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority.