Landowners in rural Pembrokeshire could be stumped when they next apply for property planning consent if the site of the proposed development isn't served by a daily bus service.

This reason was thrown up by a National Assembly planning inspector when he considered an appeal by Pembrokeshire fish farmers, Brian and Margot Bateman.

They wanted outline consent for a plot to build a bungalow on a one-acre field they own at Chapel Hill, near Hundleton. They planned to sell the plot to reinvest in their Pembrokeshire Fish Farms business.

They appealed to the National Assembly's planning inspectorate when their application was turned down by Pembrokeshire County Council.

They were stunned when they received the inspector's report. Margot, former Pembrokeshire NFU county chairman, said one of the reasons the inspector put forward for dismissing the appeal was that the site was not served by a daily bus service. She regards this as unreasonable, suggesting that it puts rural dwellers at a disadvantage to people living in urban areas. She is planning to meet the Welsh Minister for the Countryside, Carwyn Jones, to discuss this issue.

Her comments come after an Assembly member called for farming families to be given greater freedom to build new properties near to the family farm.

Referring to her meeting with Carwyn Jones, Margot said: "I know he won't be able to discuss our individual case, but I want him to know what implications this will have on people living in the countryside. Are there any areas in rural Pembrokeshire that have the luxury of a daily bus service?''

The National Assembly stressed that there was no specific regulation that properties must be served by a daily bus service.

It pointed out that the Inspector had two other reasons for refusing planning permission. But if these had not existed, he would have needed to deduce whether the proposal complied with the principles of sustainable development, particularly in respect of public transport.

Said a National Assembly spokesman: "He went on to say that on the evidence before him he did not consider that a service of less than one bus a day would provide a satisfactory choice of means of transport to the private car and that the proposal could well, therefore, be unsustainable in terms on the advice in section 2.3 of Planning Policy Wales."

Pictured: Margot Bateman who will bring her concerns to the Welsh Minister for the Countryside.