An application for a bespoke ‘upper-class’ wedding building at a 19th century west Wales country house has been given the go-ahead by county planners.

Meirion Appleton, through agent Morgan & Flynn Architectural Services, sought permission to develop an existing wedding venue at Gwynfryn, Llanarth, Ceredigion, siting the bespoke building on a former tennis court.

An application allowing the property to obtain a wedding license was granted back in 2017, with weddings of up to 120 guests held throughout the year, currently on-site in marquees.

It is expected a maximum of 15 weddings will be held annually.

A supporting statement said: “The proposal to provide a permanent wedding venue will provide social and economic benefits to the local area and the county of Ceredigion in the form of employment and the use of local people and supplies to furnish and run the weddings. Any couple wishing to hold their wedding breakfast at Gwynfryn will hire the building and will then organise their own caterers, florist, bar tenders etc. The applicants only provide the venue.”

It said the existing marquees are “bought onto the site on lorries a few days before the wedding and are then dismantled a few days after,” adding: “The setting up of a marquee for a wedding brings with it the requirement for outside caterers along with kitchen trailers, a mobile bar with a lorry for the pumps and storage of drinks, requirement to set up tables, chairs, carpets, lighting, electrics, mobile toilets etc; the traffic generated in the setting up and taking down of a marquee every week is significant in itself.”

It finished: “Having an existing licence Gwynfryn has become an upper-class wedding venue. It has not negatively impacted the highway network in any way, it has demonstrated over the years that vehicular movements generated by its use as a wedding venue is acceptable and network provisions are adequate and safe.”

Local community council Llanarth raised concerns about potential noise generated from the development, and access, and sought clarification on parking.

The application was conditionally approved by county planners; an officer report, recommending approval, saying: “…it is considered reasonable to take the view that the proposed development would not necessarily result in the change / intensification of the use of the site compared to its existing use, where the information states that it has been used as a wedding for up to 120 guests since at least 2016 and likely earlier, with [previous] planning permission allowing the use of the site for residential and wedding purposes.”