“Given the obvious and overwhelming opposition from the public in Llanelli to this Authority’s plan to replace a well-used tennis court in Parc Howard with a car park which will be accessed by a blatantly unsuitable access point via Old Road; regardless and separate from the planning process, would the Leader of the Council acknowledge that this element of the Parc Howard Masterplan is deeply unpopular and would he care to demonstrate his reasonableness and willingness to listen and engage with the community in Llanelli by withdrawing Planning Application number S/35541 if only pending meaningful public consultation, separation from the planning process, on the provision of car parking within the Parc Howard Masterplan?”
Minutes:
“Given the obvious and overwhelming opposition from the public in Llanelli to this Authority’s plan to replace a well-used tennis court in Parc Howard with a car park which will be accessed by a blatantly unsuitable access point via Old Road; regardless and separate from the planning process, would the Leader of the Council acknowledge that this element of the Parc Howard Masterplan is deeply unpopular and would he care to demonstrate his reasonableness and willingness to listen and engage with the community in Llanelli by withdrawing Planning Application number S/35541 if only pending meaningful public consultation, separate from the planning process, on the provision of car parking within the Parc Howard Masterplan?”
Response by Councillor Emlyn Dole, Leader of the Council:-
“The proposal for a car park at this location has been considered for many years and was part of the original masterplan for Parc Howard when the Heritage Lottery application was submitted in 2015. I have convened over the past 18 months/2 years a total of 6 meetings with representative groups to discuss plans and aspirations for the park in order to ensure that the park stays in public ownership. Those meetings included The Parc Howard Association, The Friends of Llanelli Museum, Llanelli Town Council, as well as the Llanelli Community Heritage. The proposals, including the need for a car park to support the sensitive commercialisation of Parc Howard, had received the general support of the representatives from those organisations and were then approved by the Executive Board on 26th July, 2016. The tennis court and games area are underused and we will still retain another tennis court behind the children’s play area. The access to the proposed parking area from Old Road has been designed by our own highway engineers and meets all design requirements for this type of facility. The car parking proposals have been drawn up on the basis originally envisaged in the Masterplan and are currently open to consultation as part of the planning process. I consider that the consultation with key groups has been more than “meaningful” and the planning process provides every opportunity for public comments on the proposals. I will not be withdrawing the application and will leave it for the Planning Committee to consider the public comments and determine the application in due course and expect them to do that on the basis of material planning considerations.”
Councillor Jenkins asked the following supplementary question:-
“Can you name just one organisation that has written in and said ‘we support the car park’?”
Response by Councillor Emlyn Dole, Leader of the Council:-
“All I am trying to do is to save Parc Howard. Parc Howard was on the Asset Transfer list. It was in your gift as a Town Councillor in Llanelli to accept that but Llanelli Town Council decided that they did not want to take the asset or Parc Howard. Then it came back to me and to this Council so then we had to do something which is why we sat down with the 4 groups I have outlined six times over 18 months in long conversations about how we do that, how we ensure that Parc Howard stays in public ownership. That’s a pledge I made in the second week of my leadership two and a half years ago and I have not moved from that. It will stay in public ownership because it belongs to the people but in order to do that we need a plan and a part of that plan is that need for all the people of Llanelli to be able to use the park. Not just the people who are near to it, who can walk to it and it is convenient for them but for the people in Tyisha and for the people in Glanymor and for the people in Llwynhendy and for the people in the outlaying areas. When my children were small we were there every weekend but we had to find somewhere to park about half a mile away. This is to ensure that the park is for all the people of Llanelli and not just for some and to ensure that that car park gives a viability to the possibility of some sort of income there that is meaningful in the context of the finances need to ensure that future. A comparative is to look at a similar park and I am thinking of Picton Castle in Pembrokshire. Very simiar with wonderful gardens surrounding it. Their parking spaces are 168 and they are hoping to expand to 288. Already with what they have done with the parking that means that their visitor numbers have increased from 15,000 to 31,000. That has doubled the use of the park. It is quite simple, when Llanelli Town Council said no to the asset, I said yes. I said that we will sit down together and we will devise a scheme that means that this park stays in public ownership. I want to keep it in public ownership for the people of Llanelli. We have heard this morning about the need for parks that are suitable for our youngsters and yet last week in a Planning Committee on a planning application on a piece of kit to go into Parc Howard for youngsters – 7 Councillors voted against it. What kind of people vote against a youth facility in a public park in their own ward and in their own town? That defies belief and Llanelli deserves better than that and deserves more consideration than that. I could talk about the park in Aberdare, which is similar again with car parking because they want all the people to be able to use the park as we do in Llanelli. Parc Howard is a jewel and we want to maintain it and keep it in public ownership.”