AN APPLICATION to turn a former Haverfordwest garden centre in to a site for an abattoir has been submitted to Pembrokeshire County Council.

The major outline plan to change the use of land to the West of Green Plains Nursery – located off the A40 near Haverfordwest Golf Club – was submitted to the Authority by developer Nick Heywood.

Documents accompanying the application reveal that – if the plan is successful – the new facility would be utilised by Pembrokeshire Abbatoir Ltd (PAL).

PAL is a consortium which was set up to save the Pembrokeshire Meat Company, a business that collapsed in 2013 following a shutdown by the Food Standards Authority.

PAL currently operates from a facility in Withybush, and is seeking Welsh Government grant funding to pay for the potential move.

Landsker Business Solutions, a Whitland-based company currently acting on the behalf of PAL, released a statement to support the planning application. The document says it is likely the next round of Rural Development Plan (RDP) funding will contain a grant scheme similar to the Process Marketing Grant (PMG), which was aimed at developing growth in the Welsh food processing sector.

“Although we cannot be certain of what a new scheme’s criteria will be, the proposed development would have been considered for support under the previous PMG,” a spokesman wrote.

Community Councillors have voiced concerns over the potential dangers for traffic entering and exiting the facility from the busy A40.

They also requested that signage for the abattoir be discreet, so as not to put off visitors to the county town.