75 new Llandovery homes could bring ‘undesirables’ (From South Wales Guardian)

75 new Llandovery homes could bring ‘undesirables’

10:27am Thursday 3rd January 2013 in News

HAD a planning application for 75 houses in Llandovery come up 20 years ago, the town might never have lost its secondary school.

That is the view of town mayor Jill Blud, who told fellow town councillors that the increased boost to the town’s population might have had a crucial bearing on the decision on whether to close Ysgol Gyfun Pantycelyn or not.

Cllr Blud made her comments during a discussion on an outline planning application for 75 houses at Dolau Bran, 15 of which could be classed as affordable homes.

“The most frustrating thing about this application is that if it had come before us 20 years ago, we might have been able to save our school,” she said.

Cllr Blud asked Carmarthenshire county council housing officer Matthew Miller if – in the event of not all the houses being sold – “someone like Gwalia could come along and buy them as social housing?”.

She added that elderly people in Llandovery were “particularly frightened” at the possibility of “undesirables” moving into the area.

“I don’t think that’s very likely at all,” replied Mr Miller. “What is more of a worry is that nothing gets built at all or, having started work, a developer then gets into trouble and has to shut the site down with houses left unfinished.”

He said the county council did give priority to people from Carmarthenshire who wished to be housed in certain areas.

“We re-house very few people who are not living in the county,” he added.