A call for a storage container for a “well-established and valued” Pembrokeshire children’s nursery in a nearby cemetery has been refused by county planners.
In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Diane Evans of Meithrinfa Do Re Mi Nursery sought permission for the installation of a storage container, partially in retrospect, at Horeb Cemetery, Station Road, Letterston.
A supporting statement said: “The container is required to provide essential ancillary storage to support the lawful and established nursery use within the [nearby] chapel building.
“The site forms part of an active cemetery, owned and managed by a group of trustees. The applicant is one of the trustees and has obtained formal permission from the trustees for the container to be sited on this land.”
It added: “The container will be used solely for storage of nursery equipment and materials, including outdoor learning resources, maintenance equipment, and items required to manage both the nursery grounds and the cemetery land. No additional operational activity will take place within or around the container.”
It said the nursery, which provides childcare for approximately 83 children from the local community, “operates with a strong community focus and promotes sustainability and environmental awareness,” with plans to soften the container appearance through the planting of trees, shrubs and flowers.
An officer report recommending refusal said: “Whilst the container itself is modest in size and of a simple rectangular form, the proposal does introduce a rudimentary and visually incongruous structure. Its appearance is out of scale with its surroundings and detracts from the polite architectural character of Horeb Chapel.
“Consideration has been made with regards to alternative locations within the site, however, due to site constraints, the applicant has stated that there is no other feasible position for the container. Given the restrictive nature of the site, combined with its use as a cemetery, raises concerns as to whether a shipping container by its form and design can be considered an appropriate or complementary addition.
“Although the applicant has provided justification regarding the operational need for the additional storage, and while the local planning authority recognises and supports the functional requirements of the nursery, consideration must also be given to a more sympathetic design solution.”
One letter of objection raised concerns including the container design, scale, inappropriate siting, visual impact and concerns about its deterioration, along with a potential impact on property values.
The application was refused on the grounds it would be “an overbearing and visually intrusive feature,” having “a detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area,” and it “fails to identify the green infrastructure baseline of the site and follow a stepwise approach to provide sufficient and accurate mitigation and compensation measures”.
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