Construction company Persimmon Homes has made an application to alter an initial housing plan at its site off of Scarrowscant Lane in Haverfordwest.

The company, which originally planned to build eight homes on a section of the site, now wants to build four.

In planning application 21/0987/PA, which can be viewed on the planning section of Pembrokeshire County Council website, shows Persimmons’ intentions to replace eight ‘beadnell’ style houses with four ‘barton’ style houses.

The company says the new design is more appropriate for the area.

PCC say the application will be determined against the policies of the Local Development Plan.

Under the plan, the proposed development site is allocated for a minimum of 140 units and to ‘indicatively provide’ 25 per cent affordable housing on-site.

The intial plan submitted was to build 180 houses.

Other policies applicable to the proposed development include sustainable development and an affordable housing target.

In the design and access statement submitted by Persimmon, the company say the proposed development takes into consideration the county councils' adopted supplementary planning guidance on factors including open space, affordable housing, parking standards and planning obligations.

It goes on to say:

“It’s crucial that the site begins to contribute to the housing supply in the area as soon as possible. As a result, the house type mix and range is an important aspect that has been fully incorporated into the design.”

In a full meeting held on Wednesday February 23, Haverfordwest Town Council objected to the proposal.

Sheriff of Haverfordwest Richard Blacklaw-Jones made an appeal to Persimmon to be more transparent wanting to know why the change was taking place.

Cllr Blacklaw-Jones said:

“We need to be careful as to the type of housing we will end up with. There is a shortage of affordable housing in Pembrokeshire. It would be nice to know the reasons why they want to take away the affordable housing element.”

The council responded with a letter dated March 17 saying they objected to the proposal on the grounds there is a shortage of affordable housing stock so there is a need to retain the original number of “beadnell” dwellings.

A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes said the company was still committed to making the housing market inclusive.

“We believe the application to replace eight apartments with four traditional two-storey houses is more appropriate for the Merlins Lane development and the existing character of the local area.

“We look forward to continuing to build the best value homes on the market in sustainable and inclusive communities in Pembrokeshire.”