Pembrokeshire County Council - Review of Local Development Plan - Episode 4

Local Development Plan Review – Deposit Plan

Comments and Observations

Pembroke Dock

Since I last wrote to PCC regarding the consultations for the authority’s Local Development Plan Review (LDP 2) I am pleased to note that many of the concerns I raised regarding the candidate sites, put forward by various bodies, have been acknowledged and these do not appear on the present draft plan.

I do, however, have major reservations relating to the sites HSG/096/00238 and HSG/096/00373 situated north and south respectively of “The Long Wall” (Pembroke Road) and east of Pembroke Dock Cricket Club. I hope that these sites are not precursors to the development of all the land along this ridge between Pembroke and Pembroke Dock.

I also have concerns about the reduction in size of the Pembroke Dock Conservation Area that took place in c2017. In submissions regarding this during the consultation period, I advocated the extension of the conservation area, as has happened in the neighbouring settlement of Pembroke, to continue, if in name only, the protection of High Street and Bufferland. Certainly, High Street is one of the earliest built areas of the town, developed as a private venture by the Bush Estate to provide leased housing for workers in the Royal Dockyard. The development of the above-mentioned housing allocations will continue to erode the setting and heritage value of the much older buildings in High Street. Being placed on and either side of the ridge, these allocations also detract significantly from the setting of Pembroke Dock as viewed from the high ground by the Cleddau Bridge and from Pembroke Castle.

One other housing allocation in Pembroke Dock (HSG/096/LDP2/2) is another site that sits conspicuously on top of the ridge that runs down to Pennar Point (Figure 1). This is an allocation that has extended the settlement boundary of Pembroke Dock from that published in the Adopted LDP (2013). There is concern that this allocation will merely open up the possibility of development further west along the ridge, as effectively happened with the allocation on the south side of Pembroke Road (HSG/096/00373) AFTER publication of the Adopted LDP (2013).

Green Wedges (GN 37)

It is pleasing to see areas of land designated as Green Wedge. The area south of Bufferland so designated, along the northern banks of the Pembroke River, east of Jacob’s Pill, is particularly welcome.

Figure 1

I do, however, wonder why the Green Wedge designation has not been continued further west towards Pennar Point to provide a similar protected margin along and behind the shoreline. (Figure 1).

Figure 2

One area I feel very strongly about being given this status is the land that runs from Treowen Road, south eastward to the western side of Jacob’s Pill (Figure 2). The development of this land would destroy the setting of the park adjoining Pennar Church which at present takes in expansive views up the Pembroke River to Pembroke Castle and onward to the headland at Manorbier. It also helps to provide a sense of rural remoteness for Jacob’s Pill – a location of some importance in the history of Pennar and Pembroke Dock in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Jacob’s Pill and the northern banks of the Pembroke River gives the population of Pennar and Bufferland access to rural tranquillity within walking distance of their homes. Access to such spaces is important in ensuring  well-being and improved mental health for residents (GN 35 Green Infrastructure refers). Policies GN 38, GN 39, GN 40, GN 41 are also very relevant here. Figures 3a and 3b below show the extent of this view, the theoretical viewshed (from a height of 6 feet above the Pennar Recreation Area) being shown in red.

Figure 3a

Figure 3b

To return to the Housing Allocations mentioned earlier, HSG/096/00238 and HSG/096/00373, I am rather confused about the designation of the land east of these two housing allocations and on both the north and south sides of the Pembroke Road (Top Road) - as in Figure 4. 

Figure 4

The land immediately either side of the road is allocated as a hard rock resource, exploitable before any development can take place. The land immediately south of these allocations is allocated green wedge status. If green wedge has greater protection from development than hard rock resource allocated land, it is preferable that this land be allocated as green wedge. Green Wedge would also offer protection for the hard rock resource beneath the surface. This would help to ensure that there is not a ribbon of development eastward along Pembroke Road towards the neighbouring settlement thus retaining a visible gap between Pembroke and Pembroke Dock. Also, further development on this high ridge would be inappropriately conspicuous from numerous locations around Pembroke and Pembroke Dock and much further beyond. See the viewshed from this location (6 feet above ground level) in Figure 6.

Figure 6

Pembroke Dockyard

The status and allocation of the land within the dockyard walls has changed from that allocated to it in the Adopted LDP (2013). In the earlier map the importance of the dockyard and its collection is made explicitly clear by showing that it clearly lies within  the Pembroke Dock Conservation Area (PDCA). The plan that has been included with LDP2 does not make this important point clear and is misleading by omission. The extent of the conservation area is available via a different set of constraint maps, but someone reading the Adopted LDP(2013) plan and the LDP2 plan might be forgiven for believing that the conservation area is no longer an important factor in considering planning applications within the dockyard. 

This is far from the truth. See the two comparison plans  (Figure 7 - The plan from Adopted LDP (2013) and Figure 8 - The plan from LDP2 (2020)) on the next page..It is also contentious in so far as the proposals Milford Haven Port Authority (PCC’s strategic partner) have in place for the western end of the dockyard. MHPA’s plans involve the destruction and re-development of the area west of the ferry terminal, effectively replacing several listed buildings with an extensive slab of concrete and some VERY large sheds up to 40 metres high. These sheds (or shed) would be about twice as high as the two listed flying boat hangars in the eastern part of the dockyard. The scheme also envisages the filling in of the Grade II* listed dry dock and the Grade II listed Timber Pond – almost certainly the last such structure of its type in Wales and possibly the UK. MHPA’s plans are speculative and I am unaware of any companies that have made a commitment to making use of the facilities that MHPA intend to put in place. I am also aware that there is a need for well-paid employment in Pembroke Dock, but I also believe that other locations should be explored for the siting of these facilities before destroying the remaining last few dockyard industrial heritage assets.I also believe that the waste transfer licence obtained for the north eastern part of the dockyard, including the two flying boat hangars, is intended to put this area of the yard out of consideration as a location for the works that MHPA would like to carry out on the western end of the yard. The market for the type of waste that the waste transfer site has been licensed for is, and was, precarious. The main market for the waste is currently The Netherlands, on the eastern side of the UK. The eastern side of the UK has far better communication links than Pembroke Dock and is able to draw on a far wider area. It is also much nearer to The Netherlands!

[Milford Haven Port Authority have now published the pre-planning documentation for this development at: https://www.mhpa.co.uk/pembroke-dock-marine/

There is a prodigous amount of material here! To the uninitiated, very confusing! I will try and simplify this in another post. Ed 19 March 2020]

Now let’s look at the south eastern part of the dockyard where there are many restored offices, ex storehouses and privately owned residential buildings from the Victorian period. This area has been allocated as Port and Energy Related Development (PERD). On the Adopted LDP (2013) inset map for Pembroke Dock this is not illustrated particularly clearly. This includes the Dockyard Chapel, now home of the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre. It also includes, surprisingly, the Pembroke Dock market which is outside the dockyard walls, but the property of PCC. These buildings are listed, many having been restored at great public expense. This designation also applies to the privately owned Paterchurch, (formerly property of PCC), a scheduled and listed Grade 1 medieval building which lies further west, just inside the dockyard wall. This designation (PERD) is severely inappropriate for such sites and should be changed to one that reflects the true nature of these areas.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Pembroke

Housing Allocation

Housing Allocation HSG/095/00147(Figure 9) lies partly within the Pembroke Conservation Area and in close proximity to Monkton Priory Church, Pembroke Castle and the Medieval dovecote that was attached to the priory. There are other important monuments and landscape features within close proximity too.

This is another example of where the layout of the mapping and the indication of other constraints that might have an effect on the suitability of the site for a housing allocation, is unclear and confusing. The hiding of large areas of the mapped area under indicators of more detailed mapping is particularly poor and is a misleading hindrance to those interested in PCC’s intentions for LDP2. There are certainly ways  in which the mapping could have been made more readable to the general public. The overall impression is that the mapping has been designed to be deliberately obfuscating to the general reader.

The map on the facing page shows clearly that the larger part of the housing allocation HSG/095/00147 lies within the Pembroke Conservation Area. It is interesting to note that CADW makes no comment about this being the case in their response to planning application 19/0339/PA .

I have also noted that on the Lle Portal Wales the old conservation area boundary is available for download, but not the present boundary. See Figure 9.

The follow map, Figure 10, shows the extent of land visible from the top of the Keep of Pembroke Castle. This area is shaded in red. The housing allocation discussed is shown outlined in orange.

It should be borne in mind that building at this allocation will detract significantly from the setting of both Pembroke Castle, Monkton Priory Church, Old Hall and the medieval dovecote. This will lessen the attractiveness of these sites to tourists, especially as viewed from the walls and towers of the castle,  and thus reduce the number of visitors who come to the town - particularly those on repeat visits. 

Pembroke is currently dependent on tourism as one of its main, but faltering, sources of income. This allocation would also run counter to the visionary developments of the South Quay, Westgate Hill and Darklin within the town.

See Para 4.34, page 43; Also the allocation is clearly against policy GN 22-Protection and Enhancement of the Historic Environment.

It is my strong view that this allocation/application, if passed, will set a precedent that will be very hard to challenge in future planning applications.

Figure 9

Figure 10

Finally......

GN 25 Retail and Commercial Centre Development
Paragraph 5.123 of this policy (pp. 118-119) suggests that there may be the possibility of the historic burgage plots outside the centre of the settlement, but being within the Pembroke Conservation Area, being used for residential development. I am staunchly against any such possibility being made available by the content of this paragraph. 

I hope that Pembrokeshire County Council is able to incorporate my comments into the Reviewed Local Development Plan.

The Dry Dock and Timber Pond in Pembroke Dockyard (Part 3)

How the Pembroke Dockyard is Used  - with Plans for Its Future Too!

The diagram below shows what I believe to be the current usage and proposed usage of Pembroke Dockyard.

I would be delighted to receive more information that might correct or add to the diagram.

Dockyard Buildings under Threat - These are structures that I believe are to be filled in or destroyed by Milford Haven Port Authority (MHPA)and replaced by concrete slab.

Dockyard Wall - The line of the present existing dockyard wall. Parts of this are due to be demolished by MHPA.

Ferry Terminal - Land used by the Irish Ferry operation. This includes customs, parking etc. The area may be more extensive.

Listed Building - The grades of listing vary from Grade II through Grade II* to Grade I, Grade I being the most important.

Mainstay Marine - Land used by this company. This company is largely owned by MHPA.

Land owned by Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) - Currently empty and derelict.

PCC Waste Recycling Site - Leased by PCC from MHPA. It is believed that there are about two years left to run on the lease.

Preserved Dockyard Buildings - Many owned by MHPA, some under private ownership.

Super Slip - Surviving slipways 1 and 2 will be converted into one large super slip under current proposals by MHPA.

The Commodore - Privately owned but in a derelict and parlous state.

The Paddock - Former grounds attached to Admiralty House (The Commodore). Owned by MHPA who intend to build on it.

Through Route - MHPA propose to run a route for the movement of large structures through the site.

Waste Transfer Area - Area subject to development as a waste transfer facility, subject to a recent successful application for a license from Natural Resources Wales. A strange one this - perhaps it enables the acquisition of extra funding to carry out works on the western part of the yard? Just a hypothesis.

Unshaded areas on the map are those for which I have no information as yet.

I have yet to see MHPA's latest version of the plans they have for Pembroke Dockyard, so I have not include sheds and other buildings that they propose to build.

If you have anything to add to this post that will improve its veracity, or any other comments, please let me know.

[Edit on 11 March 2020:I have been told that this is a terrible map. Perhaps done in haste - It was quite easy to do on Google Earth. I will see If I can improve on it. Might take a few days! ]

Pembrokeshire County Council - Review of Local Development Plan - Episode 3

Looking at a Housing Allocation and its Planning History

The Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) Local Development Plan Review (LDP2) has now reached the consultation period for the DRAFT plan that will be submitted to the Welsh Assembly for ratification.

This plan can be downloaded and  viewed at: https://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/local-development-plan-review/deposit

Two plots for housing allocation on the new draft plan are on either side of the Pembroke Road (aka Long Wall aka Top Road), just east of the Pembroke Dock Cricket Club. These are illustrated in the map extract below.

The very pale green areas have been designated as Green Wedge land - intended to maintain a separation between Pembroke Dock and the next settlement, Pembroke. The grey stippled areas is land where the extraction of below ground minerals should be considered before any development can take place. The Green Wedge designated land has, apparently, greater protection from development than the land allocated for potential mineral extraction. I was told this by a member of the LDP team over the telephone.

I will now look at the planning history of the housing allocation HSG/096/00272.

An outline planning application was made on 8 August 2012, (Planning Reference 12/0405/PA) and this was passed, with conditions on 19 August 2014.

The application was made by Mr & Mrs Scourfield of THE FARM HOUSE, Hill Farm, Hill Farm Park, Pembroke Dock, SA72 6QZ.

The case officer at PCC was Peter Sedgwick and the agent acting for Mr and Mrs Scourfield was Pembroke Design Ltd (H/West) of 5-7, Picton Place, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

In August 2017 Mr P Scoufield applied for the approval of the reserved matters set out in the outline planning permission above  (ref.12/0405/PA residential development), referring to appearance, landscaping, layout and scale of the development. This application was approved with further conditions and items of information on 22 February 2018. This application can be viewed here: 17/0446/PA. It is (perhaps) interesting to note that the agant and the case officer for the application had changed.

By later in the year, the property, with the planning permission as outlined above, had been sold to Ateb (A housing association) - [It has been pointed out to me by Marcel Lavel that Ateb is NOT a housing association per se. See https://www.atebgroup.co.uk/ ; Ed. 20 March 2020]. They put in an application for a non-material amendment to the planning permission on 30 October 2018 (Planning Reference: 18/0772/NM ). This altered many areas of the planning for the site, which were in summary,

• Non-Material Amendment to reserved matters approval ref. 17/0446/PA (residential development in conjunction with outline planning permission ref. 12/0405/PA) to allow for changes to house type layout and siting, reduced footprints, changes to materials and finishes, porch re-design, addition of photovoltaics, change to turning head road No.3 and adjustments at end of road No.5, changes to gardens of flats, garden shed size and location and removal of water butts 

This was unconditionally passed on 14 December 2018. The previous day another condition of the original outline permission was met (Planning Reference 18/0801/DC ):

• Discharge of condition 15 (hydraulic modelling assessment) of outline planning permission ref. 12/0405/PA (residential development).

However, the time remaining for commencing work within the conditions of the original planning application was by now beginning to run short. In early October 2019 permission was sought to amend the condition relating to the way in which the Landscape and Ecological Management Plan (LEMP) for the site would be implemented. Ateb sought to have the the plan implemented in a phased way, which would allow them to commence meaningful work on the site before the 22 February 2020 - after which all permissions would lapse. (Planning Reference: 19/0654/NM)

PCC seemingly reluctantly agreed and unconditional permission to phase the LEMP was granted by the end of October 2019.

Ateb was also struggling to get all the reserved matters from the original application cleared before the planning permission ran out on on 22 February 2020. The made an application (Planning Reference :19/0805/DC) to resolve these reserved matters on 11 November 2019, but these were only partially accepted by PCC on 11 February 2020. The most visible requirement was the moving of the 30 m.p.h. limit signs further east along the Pembroke Road.

The full list of conditions and whether they had been met on 11 February 2020 is:

Condition 8: The submitted information is acceptable and sufficient to partially discharge this condition. This condition cannot be fully discharged as the condition requires that the development be implemented in accordance with the approved details before the first occupation of any dwelling or in accordance with a programme to be first agreed in writing by the local planning authority. 

Condition 13: The submitted information is acceptable and sufficient to partially discharge this condition. This condition cannot be fully discharged as the condition requires the road signs to be relocated in accordance with the approved details before any works are started on the site. 

Condition 16: The submitted information is acceptable and sufficient to partially discharge this condition. This condition cannot be fully discharged as the condition requires that the development be carried out in accordance with the approved details

I can confirm that the following planning condition has been fully discharged: 

Condition 22: The submitted information is acceptable and sufficient to fully discharge this condition. 

I can confirm that the following planning condition has not been discharged:

Condition 17: No information has been provided in relation to this condition. It would be premature to discharge this condition at this time as it requires the foul sewerage infrastructure works required by the hydraulic modelling assessment to have been completed and approved by Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and the Local Planning Authority to be informed in writing of its completion. Therefore this condition is not discharged.

Were the signs moved? Perhaps you can tell me?

Anyway, by 22 February, in a rather rushed manner, traffic lights were erected and the "Long Wall" had an entrance to the site knocked through it and machinery stood on the site awaiting further instructions...... Did they make the deadline of 22 February? I haven't enquired.

A Note About Green Wedge:

The notion of maintaining a Green Wedge between two settlements is intended to ensure that the settlements do not coalesce, but maintain some countryside between them. PCC have produced a useful guide to the Green Wedge that can be downloaded here. A key to the shading and colours used on the plan can be downloaded here.

The LDP2 map for Pembroke Dock (here) shows Green Wedge land mostly to the south of the cricket club and along the northern banks of the Pembroke River as far as Jacob's Pill, but not further west towards Pennar Point

The grey mottled area denotes land that has buried hard rock mineral deposits - in this case probably limestone. The significance of this is that the option of exploring and extracting these deposits has to be studied and possibly exploited BEFORE development of the land for other purposes can be considered. Of course the council and any prospective developer of this land could quickly come to an agreement that the deposits are not worth exploiting and so development could be the next option. There is a great deal of land so marked either side of Pembroke Road and also at Pennar Point. Background information about mineral extraction and reserves can be down loaded here.

It is my belief that this land should be marked as Green Wedge in order to maintain the historical separation of Pembroke and Pembroke Dock as well as preserving the northern banks of the Pembroke River from further development. 

The designation of Green Wedge land seems to offer greater protection to a site than designation as a site of hard rock deposit that might be exploited. 

The Dry Dock and Timber Pond PD (Part 2)

The Timber Pond in Pembroke Dockyard

In the age of wooden ships, naval dockyards (and civilian shipbuilders) used copious amounts of timber. The seasoning of timbers was an important aspect of ship construction if the constructor did not want the vessel to warp and bend unpredictably. Also, there was a need to intentionally bend and shape timbers and it was found that soaking in water made the bending of timbers easier.

By the middle of the nineteenth century it had been found that soaking timbers in salt water before working them allowed suppling or bending to be more easily performed. Also, the salt that impregnated the timber helped in its preservation, particularly if the timber was "in the log".

Originally the timber was stored in a timber pond that was on the foreshore at the the western end of the dockyard, on the beach at the end of what is now Fort Road. Indeed, the stumps of some of the timber piles that penned in the timbers can sometimes be seen during spring tides.

Notice the poles of the old timber pond on the beach at the end of Fort Road c1890

 This end of the dockyard also had a tidal inlet that almost ran, on spring tides, up to the site of the present main entrance of the yard, with Paterchurch on its southern bank. On the northern bank of this inlet the Admiralty dug (or extended) a large limestone quarry for building the eastern end of the yard. This quarry, the source of much of the building stone used in the early years of "The Yard", was later to become an obstacle to extending the works to the west and filling in and levelling the land for further building was to be a major expense. For more information about Paterchurch see my post here.

The diagrams below shows the basic design of the timber pond (Listed Grade II), taken from a the plan of the design held at The National Archives at Kew, London.(TNA Ref: WO 140/486).

Timber Pond with Google Earth Imagery

As above but with some transparency

The Timber Pond

The timber pond at Pembroke Dockyard, (also called the mast pond or pickling pond), is one of the few (perhaps the only?) masonry built example surviving in the British Isles. The quality of the stone work is of its time, crafted in individually cut, carboniferous limestone blocks. Fairly recent inspection reports reveal that the pond is in good condition. It has two large, brick lined, tunnel conduits running into it from the outside world. One of these, in the western wall of the pond, runs to an outfall on the beach at the end of Fort Road. This has a system of sluices and flap seals that can be used to drain and seal the pond as required. The other conduit runs from the north wall of the pond to the southern end of the graving dock, and was (probably?) used to fill the pond with water from the dock.

The diagram below shows this general arrangement of the Western Part of the dockyard. The numbers against some of the older buildings were allocated as part of a separate project to commemorate the Bicentennial of Pembroke Dock in 2014. They were for project identification purposes only.

Some people reading this post may not even be aware of the existing of the Timber Pond, which is hardly surprising, as unless you have access to the western part of the dockyard, it is hidden behind the impressive dockyard wall. Its relative anonymity does not make it any less important in its significance to the heritage of ship building at Pembroke Dock, and indeed Wales and probably the wider UK.

The timber pond c1890

It has been claimed that the timber pond was made redundant in about 1860, with technological advancement in naval architecture that began to introduce the use of iron (and later steel) in the construction of ships. This is not true, as the wood was still an important part of ship construction, not least for the building and fitting of robust masts and rigging for these early iron ships - hence the alternative name for the timber pond - The Mast Pond.  See some examples of such in the picture below.

HMS Penelope. Launched Pembroke Dock 1867

HMS Shannon. Launched Pembroke Dock 1875.

The Milford Haven Port Authority (MHPA) proposes to fill in the pond and cover it with a concrete slab as part of a speculative plan to make Pembroke (Dock) Marine a home for marine energy development. MHPA proposes to the fill the pond in so that damage to the structure is minimal, however, removing the concrete slab and extracting the fill would be a massively expensively task for anyone wishing to uncover the pond in the future. The pond is being effectively destroyed.

View across the drained timber pond from the southern edge looking north-west. 2014

Looking across the pond form the southern edge looking north-east. Not the conduit that leads to the dry dock. This is the block oval near the ramp in the northern wall. 2014

The timber pond in an old photograph, taken for the east. The other buildings visible have been demolished. c1970?

The timber pond appears under the wing tip of this photograph taken from a Pembroke Dock based flying boat in the 1930's.

In my next post I will explain the other dramatic changes that MHPA are planning to make to the western end of the dockyard. I will, in the future, discuss the notion of access for the general public to this, and other areas of the historic dockyard and the reasons why this is restricted at present.

Thanks for taking the trouble to read this post.

Have a good Christmas and very best wishes for 2020.

The Dry Dock and Timber Pond, PD (Part 1)

The Graving Dock in Pembroke Dockyard

The Milford Haven Port Authority (MHPA) is unique. [An apology and a correction! There are 50+ trust ports in the UK. Milford Haven Port Authority is one of the bigger ones. It might have been one of the first. Would be glad to hear comment about this.] The Port of Milford Haven is a Trust Port, a statutory entity that was brought into existence by a specific Act of Parliament – The Milford Haven Conservancy Act 1958. It is the only trust port in the United Kingdom] [See note above and link here.]

If you want to read further into the background legislation that governs the operation of the authority, then there is no better place to do this that at their own website here.

One of MHPA's activities that are focused on the south side of Milford Haven is Pembroke Dock Marine. This main base of operations is located within the former Royal Dockyard and, as the information on MHPA's website explains, this "will deliver a world-class marine energy and engineering hub on the deep water Milford Haven Waterway."

The progress of this project is closely tied in with the Swansea Bay Region City Deal project, which you can learn more about by following the link.

Further insight into the wider economic activities carried out by MHPA can be found here. Other downloadable publications are available here.

However, much of the work of MHPA's work is in direct conflict with the preservation of the heritage assets that exist around the waterway. The prime case of this are the authority's plans to develop Pembroke Dockyard. 

Pembroke Dockyard opened in 1814 and was closed in 1926. Prior to 1814, there were just a couple of farms and a derelict mansion that occupied the area. It really was a green field site. The raison d'etre of Pembroke Dock was the dockyard and when it closed the local deprivation was intense.

The Royal Dockyard was the only such facility in Wales and, in an ideal world, perhaps it should have been used to encourage visitors to the county and developed into a heritage based leisure facility. However, the need for jobs, the Second World War and the all powerful financial might of the oil industry were more than minor obstructions to this being possible.

The dockyard, despite the burying and demolition of many of its original buildings, most notably by the Royal Air Force and latterly by the deep water berthing quay at the eastern end of the yard, still has some notable buildings, many of which are listed.

However, two of the surviving structures from the original dockyard, both listed, are now under threat by proposals put forward by the Milford Haven Port Authority. Why bury and destroy these features, unique in their character? It would seem that one possibility is to provide extra parking for lorries. That would seem to be a tragic, banal waste of some unique features of local heritage.

In this post I will give a brief introduction to the first of these features - the old graving dock or dry dock

The former dry dock (Listed Grade II* - see here), Was an important part of the role of the dockyard. This is in part of the dockyard that is rarely seen by the general public, but is easy of access, just beyond the ferry terminal. The image from Google Maps below shows its location.

Location of the Dry Dock

The blue rectangle, in the inset, marks out the dry dock.

The dry dock is of the caisson type. That means that the method of closing the dock before the water was pumped out was to float a steel or iron blocking door into the mouth of the dock and sink it, within tight fitting guiding rails, so that it made a good seal between the interior of the dock and the outside. The water was then pumped out by powerful pumps, until the dock was dry within.

The picture below shows the Ocean Layer, a cable laying ship, in this graving dock in the early 1950s.

Cable Ship(CS) Ocean Layer in Dry Dock

The dry dock today, apart from having tidal silt within and some dumped soil tipped into it in the south east corner, is a testament to the craftsmanship of the engineers who built it in the middle of the nineteenth century. The bollards and capstans, although quite decayed, are still around the edges and the old caisson used to keep the waters of the haven out, altough very rusted and damaged, is lodged at the southern end of the dock.

The dry dock was built in the very early days of the dockyard, c1820. It was lengthened in about 1853 to its present size. It was used for the repair of warships and, later in its career, as a place to dismantle old ships. The photograph above of the CS Ocean Layer shows the dock when it was used (under lease) by the local company R S Hayes to refit this vessel (Ex Empire Frome) for the laying of undersea cables. Follow this link for more information about CS Ocean Layer.

If you want to view this remaining feature of the dockyard, it is quite straightforward. If you enter the dockyard through the old main gate on Fort Road, take a left turn at the first mini-roundabout and then follow this road. It will take you right and then left past some large sheds and the old, grey limestone Oakum House. On your right hand side, behind a chain link fence, is the dry dock. Be careful in this area as there can be much works traffic at some of the businesses that have accommodationin this part of the yard. Wearing a reflective waistcoat might be helpful!

This is the drydock from near the entrance. Notice how silted up it is. The caisson can be seen at the far end of the dock. The object in the foreground looks like it might be an old pontoon.

This is the view from the other end of the dock showing a close-up of the old caisson. This would have been floated into position at the open end of the dock and sunk into position, the wooden strake fitting into a slot in the dock wall. Powerful pumps would then have pumped the water out of the dock.

In my next post, I will introduce the second heritage building under threat in the dockyard...the timber pond.

Pembrokeshire County Council - Review of Local Development Plan - Episode 2

In Episode 1 I gave a brief outline of how you can look up the details of proposed Candidate Sites for the Local Development Plan Review (LDP2).

We looked at Site 324 on the Barrack Hill in Pembroke Dock. To read this article again see:

Pembrokeshire County Council - Review of Local Development Plan - Episode 1

Since publishing this post, I looked up the owners of this land at the Land Registry. The owners are Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC), who own the freehold title to this former Ordnance Board land. For the sum of £3 you can download the title of the property, along any restrictive covenants. Another £3 gives you a map of the area covered by the title, but unfortunately none is available for this property, it not having been provided when the title was transferred to PCC many moons ago.


In this post We will look at some other properties around The Barrack Hill.


Initially, I will look at Candidate Site 323.

This site, on the western edge of The Barrack Hill, near the car park and bus stop, is near where there was in WW II a barrage balloon site. I remember some of the old mooring blocks and rings being there in the 1960s. (Sorry - a diversion! - Oops!)

The description of the site goes as follows: (Information taken form the Candidate Site Register)

• Name of Site: SGPC Site 3 - Adjacent to carpark and Chapel Road
• Nearest Settlement: Pembroke Dock
• Proposer Name: John Parsons
• Proposer Organisation:  South Pembrokeshire Golf Club
• Current Use: Leisure - Golf Course
• Proposed Use: Housing
• Site Area (Ha): 0.25
• Preferred Strategic Compatibility Category: Green

Up until now, I have not mentioned the red boundary line on the maps of Pembroke Dock. This line demarks the present settlement boundary. Planners like to keep development within the settlement boundary, (as I do!) and I expect that you would be able to find many planning applications that were turned down because they were outside the settlement boundary of a particular....settlement. Search at PCC Planning if motivated enough.

If you are not able to pin down where Candidate Site 323 is, this larger area map might help.

The eagle-eyed reader will have noticed the line of the present public right of way that crosses the proposed site diagonally. This follows one of the original tracks laid out when the barracks were built.

Who owns this site?

This is land that comes under the Land Registry title CYM281495. It is owned by Pembrokeshire County Council.

The difficulty with this is the notion of precedent.  Some of you will have remembered the planning application for a house at the other end of the Barrack Hill. That is:

• Land Register title: CYM676847, land on the north side of 10 Presely View, Pembroke Dock, SA72 6NP (£40,000, title transferred to present owner of 5 May 2016 from Pembrokeshire County Council).

This piece of land, which from recollection took a while to sell, was part of the former Ordnance Land  described for Candidate Site 242 and Candidate Site 344 that I have mentioned above and in my last post.

This sale set a precedent, a very useful thing in planning matters, that it is reasonable to sell off plots of land that lie outside the settlement boundary of Pembroke Dock (the red line) and are on what was The Barrack Hill.

This is worth bearing in mind when thinking about the motives that may lie behind lands sales and subsequent planning applications. One needs to think long term - what are the consequences of an application being granted?

Another precedent that was set by the above grant of planning consent is that the site was within (and still is within) the Pembroke Dock Conservation Area (PDCA). In fact, the whole of the original Barrack Hill Area is within the PDCA, but outside the settlement boundary. See my effort at mapping below:

The pink area with the green border is the Conservation Area and the red border marks the settlement boundary. The Barrack Hill is within the Conservation Area and outside the settlement boundary.

I must point out here that I have no particular issue with anyone who gets permission to build on The Barrack Hill as long as the correct procedures are followed and the intention is made plain from the outset.  I would, of course, hope that the planning authority would  refuse such an application because of the special nature of the place and its justifiable location within the Conservation Area. It is important that everyone takes notice of the way in which their surroundings can change. If you disagree with a plan, then object as early as you can.

I have made no strong comment so far about any of the proposals so far discussed. Opinions will follow later I would imagine....

Again, please feel free to comment if you wish. I will moderate the comments, but will publish all, but will redact swear words or insulting material. Be polite - it is the best way to be - politely assertive.

To be continued......

Pembrokeshire County Council - Review of Local Development Plan - Episode 1

This series (?!) of  posts will focus on the Local Development Plan Review (LDP2) for Pembrokeshire County Council.

Throughout the post(s) I will be using information from a variety of sources, but mostly from Pembrokeshire County Council's own website. I believe that my use of this is allowable under the terms of their copyright. If this is not correct, then I would be grateful if someone from the council would get in touch.

I will add in a few photographs that will add interest to what might be a lot of text!!

I cannot possibly cope with looking at the entire county so will focus, initially, on my own town of Pembroke Dock.

OK, let's start! If you want to read about the history of  LDP2, then the best place to go is here. This link is the overview page for LDP2. I would suggest that you have a look at this first as it explains the reasoning for the review...…..

There are lots of links from the above page, but perhaps you might leave exploring those until a little later.

PCC has kindly produced many maps to illustrate the suggestions for LDP2. The map for Pembroke Dock is here. This link will allow you to download maps of the Pembroke Dock area. These maps show the locations of Candidate Sites that have been suggested by a variety of contributors.  These are numbered. The numbering refers to a table of the sites (Sites Table is here). The candidate sites are grouped by Parish/Town Council.

More on Candidate Sites a bit later!

What I suggest you do now is download the maps and the table from the links above and have a quick read! At the start of the Table booklet (110 pages!) there is an explanation of the colours and content of the tables that follow. There is also mention of the "Preferred Strategy" that tries to explain the criteria for the coloured categorisation of sites in the table. Despite being a council tax payer who has a passionate interest in Pembrokeshire, I missed the initial "informal" consultations for LDP2. 

One important rule in these matters is ALWAYS take an active interest in local plans. Also, remember that "informal" means that discussions have taken place that might possibly be binding, but no minutes etc have been taken. It never means "nothing has been decided".


To start with we will look at the Barrack Hill in Pembroke Dock. The Barrack Hill was named after the Defensible Barracks that were built on this dominating high point overlooking the old Royal Dockyard, Pembroke.


This was open land with very few trees or bushes whilst the dockyard was in operation. There could be no hiding places for attacking troops to sneak up on the Barracks - indeed, when the Barracks were built, many of the houses in Cross Park were cleared to provide an open field of fire from the fort.

Anyway, I am digressing wildly... on to business!

If you look at the maps for Pembroke Dock from the PCC web pages mentioned above, pages 6 and 7 cover the area of the Barrack Hill and the former Oil Tanks Depot above Llanreath. Page 7 shows a greyed out area on the lower northern slopes of "The Hill", allocated the number 324.




The description of this site can be found on page 71(of 110) of the Candidate Site Register. See the cutting below.

So let's see what they say about Site 324.

Working from left to right, we see that this is "SPGC site 5 - Between the 10th fairway of the golf" - this entry leaves us hanging. Hopefully it will be finshed off at some point, but the map shows us where it is. Next, the nearest settlement is given as "Pembroke Dock/Doc Penfro". Fair enough.

Then we are given the name of the person who has proposed this site (Site 324) - "John Parsons" - I know not who this is.

No agent or agent organisation is mentioned, but the Current Use is "Leisure - Golf Course and scrubland".

The proposed use is proposed as "Holiday Accommodation" - (Tents? Caravans? Houses? - who knows), has an area of 1.48 acres and is coloured Grey - the colour of fog, I suppose. If you refer back to the top of the Candidate Site Register there is a key to the colours used in the table. In their words...

and

So that is your starter. Please feel free to comment if you wish. I will moderate the comments, but will publish all, but will redact swear words or insulting material. Be polite - it is the best way to be - politely assertive.

In the next instalment, I will look at some of the other Candidate Sites and mention other sources that can be used to find out a little more about the LDP2.