A CAMPAIGN group set up to fight the proposed Premier Inn has branded the park’s decision yesterday as “disappointing” saying that the community has been “strong armed” into having the Premier Inn in order to have desperately needed affordable housing.

Yesterday (Wednesday) morning Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority’s Development Management Committee voted unanimously that the application to build a 63-bedroom Premier Inn hotel with restaurant, 38 affordable rented homes, and 32 properties for sale be delegated to the director of planning to grant permission subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions.

NOPi’s views have been backed by AM Eluned Morgan who said that not enough emphasis had been placed on housing for local people within the application.

Preseli Pembrokeshire MP, Stephen Crabb, added that the decision to give planning to a multi-national would be difficult to stomach for local businesses who struggle to get modest plans approved by the park.

“We are extremely disappointed at the decision taken today by the PCNPA Committee,” said a NOPi spokesman.

“Since the community became aware of the plans to include a Premier Inn on the Glasfryn Road site just one year ago, the significant majority of the community has been against it.

“Throughout the past year the community has been asked for their opinion on more than three separate occasions, and consistently 80% of people have objected to the hotel. This level of opposition was again shown at today’s meeting. People do not want this and the reaction in the community has been one of anger, people are asking why the voice of the majority of the community has been so blatantly ignored by the national park.”

The spokesman said that NOPi had prepared a detailed review of the application and put forward a comprehensive objection to the proposals based on material planning considerations.

She said the objective response was fully backed up by evidence as to how harmful this hotel will be to the community, and how detrimental to the special qualities of the national park it will be.

“But our objections appear to have been disregarded,” she said.

“We can’t understand how the planning officer can come to the opinion that the visual impact of a building of this scale and size, more than three and half times the height of a double decker bus, in a highly prominent and sensitive position in the national park ‘is not considered (such) that the scale is so adverse on the national park to warrant refusal of the scheme.'

“No doubt many people who live here, and those who work hard to develop local businesses here, under the policies of the national park will feel the same.”

The spokesman added that the group was completely in support of the housing, and welcomes the high level of affordable homes.

“It appears that by having a high level of affordable housing on the site it gives carte-blanche for a 63-bedroom hotel – without a requirement to establish justification and need of such a hotel,” she said. “Whitbread & Premier Inn have simply smuggled this in on the back of the housing scheme.”

The spokesman said that the group found it insulting that, after the meeting, Whitbread representatives after the meeting said that they had not been given the opportunity to discuss the community’s concerns as to the impact the hotel would have on local businesses.

“This is rather galling given that our invitation to the chief executives of Whitbread and Premier Inn to meet with the community was rebuffed, stating that they ‘did not think it was appropriate to meet’” she said.

“All we have ever campaigned for is to have the voice of the community heard, to ask for an open, transparent and honest review of the application, and for the community not to be strong-armed into having to have a Premier Inn in order to have the housing we desperately need. Sadly, it appears this is exactly what has happened.”

Eluned Morgan AM said: “I am deeply disappointed that the National Park has granted consent to Premier Inn development in St David’s without enough emphasis placed on housing for local people.

“During previous representations to the National Park Authority, I underlined the importance of ensuring that social housing should only be made available to locals, and that the houses for sale should not at any point be allowed to be sold on holiday homes.”

MP Stephen Crabb added: “Although there was more local support for this application than many had first realised, this will still go down as a controversial decision taken by the National Park Authority.

“What will be difficult for many people living inside the National Park to swallow is that yet again a business from outside the County has been given the green light for a large development, while many local firms struggle to get even modest planning applications approved. The National Park is a fantastic asset for our county but it needs to show that it backs local people and businesses too.”