County planners have refused plans for a public container-storage site at an existing car park near Pembroke Dock.
Mr and Ms Kilcoyne and Creswell applied through Preseli Planning Ltd to place storage containers at Twin Oaks, just off the A477 near Pembroke Dock.
A supporting statement said the plans covered 10 public storage containers on an existing hard-standing car park east of Pembroke Dock, linked to the settlement by the A477 and a footpath.
It said alternative sites had been considered in the Pembroke Dock area, but commercial units cost between £250,000 and more than £3 million.
“These prices would not be financially viable for the proposed small-scale, low-intensity scheme.
“Furthermore, the available sites are not suitable as they comprise building structures with infrastructure, whereas the application site does not require a building. They therefore provide unsuitable and unrealistic opportunities, and no suitable sites are currently available.”
It said the scheme would provide parking spaces, a turning head and a dedicated unloading area to improve highway safety.
It added: “There is enough space for visitors to enter, maneuver safely and unload their vehicles.”
“The access from the highway would remain unchanged and the proposal would not intensify use of the authorised car park.”
Cosheston Community Council opposed the scheme, citing access to the “extremely fast road” A477, possible light pollution visible from parts of the village and doubts over the need for another facility “given the number already in the locality”.
County planners refused the application because it would create a new commercial use in open countryside, with no evidence that a rural site was needed or that suitable alternatives were unavailable.
The council also said it “would introduce a visually intrusive and commercial form of development into a rural location” and that there was not enough information to show vehicles could safely enter and leave from the A477 trunk road.
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