Couple win battle to remove 'eyesore' scrap metal yard
A COUPLE have won their fight to have a scrap metal yard removed from a neighbour's farm.
A Welsh Assembly planing inspector branded the site, on farmland near the Carmel TV transmitter, an "eyesore".
He upheld a decision by Carmarthenshire Council that haulage operator and farm owner Andrew Thomas, of Blaenpant Farm, Maesybont, should remove the site within six months.
Mr Thomas's neighbours, Trisha Breckman and Eddie Roberts, have been calling for the council to take such action for years.
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Mrs Breckman said: "This is fantastic news. It completely exonerates us and says everything we've been saying for six years."
She added that she was disgusted by the way the council had failed to act sooner on her concerns that Blaenpant Farm was being used as a haulage depot.
In January, Carmarthenshire Council ordered Mr Thomas to remove the scrap. He appealed against the notice and refusal of planning permission — but his case was rejected by the inspector after a public inquiry last month.
The hearing was told that items stored on the 4,500 square metre hard-standing included an old static caravan, a redundant fire engine, diggers, tankers, lorry bodies and engines, machinery, industrial skips, metal tanks, concrete sleepers and other scrap metal.
In his decision, planning inspector Clive Cochrane said: "I do not accept that there is any justification for the siting of a large hard-standing for storage of vehicles and equipment in this remote location, particularly on the scale proposed. The site has the appearance of being for scrap metal storage. Therefore, the change of use of the agricultural land to storage use is an eyesore in the rural area."
He said there were ten heavy goods vehicles at the main farm, adding: "It demonstrates to me that there is very little genuine farming activity at Blaenpant and that other, possible unauthorised activities, are occupying the land and the buildings reserved by planning conditions for agricultural use."
The dispute between the neighbours led to a bitter feud between the couple and Mr Thomas and his late wife Karen Bowen, which featured on a TV documentary.
No one from Owen Banks Planning & Development Ltd, which represents Mr Thomas, was available to comment.
graeme.wilkinson@swwmedia.co.uk
Comments
by JohnnyJones
Wednesday, October 17 2012, 5:29PM
“I agree, Ken. Fair play to you for your common sense!
And before I begin - of course they are English; where else are they from with those accents?
I remember watching this on a documentary years ago and, although the farmers did seem aggressive, I couldn't help but think that they were also harassed by the incomers, who were filming their every move and trying to destroy their business. They had come to retire and obviously had enough money to buy a cottage and land; the others had been trying to make a living in a rural part of Wales, way before they came along. Farming's in decline. You go to rural Wales and you'll see that people have had to diversify to make ends meet. So, I can see how these people had come with rose-tinted glasses for the 'good life' and tried to get the letter of the law to change their neighbours' way of life. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen! They obviously don't know how it works in rural Wales - it's not all birds, butterflies and bumblebees. A lot of the English come to Wales to retire; the Welsh just keep working on their own land, any way they can - always have done.
By the way, I'm from the Tregaron area - pretty much the same environment - so I know what I'm talking about.”
by Patrick, Carmarthenshire
Monday, November 29 2010, 8:20AM
“Re Ken. You appear to know more about this story than you are letting on. The fact that the couple may or may not be English, has absolutely nothing to do with the planning laws. Sounds as tho you have a bit of a problem with the English Ken. If this couple were having to put up with haulage and scrap activities, which are dirty and noisy, AND it is unauthorised, then regardless of their nationality they have a right to complain. They also have a right to expect the local authority to pay heed, and act upon their concerns. Seems to me the couple concerned were having to put up with a lot of nuisance from this neighbour of theirs, for a very long time, and CCC let them down very badly. You should move on Ken, remove the chip from your shoulder, and accept that we all have equal rights, no matter what our nationality, and which part of the U.K. we choose to live in. The world is a very small place, and it is 2010.”
by ken, ammanford
Sunday, November 28 2010, 5:37PM
“patrick the people next door to the farmer do come from England 100%”
by caebrwyn, llanwrda
Sunday, November 28 2010, 4:07PM
“What I find astonishing in this case is the way senior officers of CCC have treated Mrs Breckman over the past 6 years. They have continually accused her of making unfounded allegations, even accusing her of doctoring evidence whilst all along they knew what she was saying was true. This decision has completely vindicated her and I expect certain CCC heads to roll.”
by Patrick, Carmarthenshire
Sunday, November 28 2010, 3:51PM
“Re. Ken. I don't believe the article mentioned the nationality of the couple Ken. I think you're jumping to conclusions. Don't you believe that people should conform to the rules that society set. You seem to be saying "do as you like in Wales, no matter how it affects others". Neighbours should consider one another, that's how it works. As for CCC, I would suggest, given their behaviour in all of this, they would concur with the likes of Ken. What an absolute disgrace.”
by david, swansea
Sunday, November 28 2010, 11:51AM
“I have watched this case along with several others in carmarthenshire and swansea and they all bear a striking similarity in that the local authority refuse to believe or investigate residents concerns that agricultural sites are being blatently used for other purposes. It has become the norm for the relaxed regulations around applications on agricultural grounds to be exploited at the cost of the environment and the amenity of neighbours. I am aware that for six years CCC have told Mrs Breckman that her accusations that a haulage centre and horse business are false and unfounded. I hope certain Directors are squirming and I hope that all those Local Councillors who turned a blind eye, and they will know who they are, step forward and are counted now. This will all come out in the public interest.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)
Shame on you CCC and your representatives.”
by nick, South UK
Saturday, November 27 2010, 9:33PM
“Wow, this took 6 years? Well done to Clive Cochrane for upholding the laws of the land. It sounds to me like several council workers weren't doing their jobs properly.
The laws in Wales should apply to *all* regardless of their nationality.”
by ken, ammanford
Saturday, November 27 2010, 10:20AM
“i was saying that english people come here to live , then try and change the ways of the welsh, i bet the welsh farmer lived here before the english couple came here to live.go to most farms and you will se lots of scrap, this couple wants to get a life or move back to England,”
by meirion, Swansea
Saturday, November 27 2010, 10:02AM
“Ken. Ammanford. Your Post makes no sense! Are you saying that the English people try to change the Welsh.? Or are you saying that the Welsh don't like the English?”
by Realist, Swansea
Saturday, November 27 2010, 9:07AM
“Re ken ammanford
Nothing to do with nationality here as anyone with half a brain would know.
This 'welsh' person was committing an offence and has been dealt with accordingly by the powers that be in Wales.
Why should people have to put up with a scrapyard on their doorstep. Good on these people for pursuing this nuisance and getting justice.”