Councillor given permission to expand warehouse

The application was made by Powys County Councillor Gareth Pugh, Conservative for Dolforwyn, who has a business designing and erecting steel framed buildings at Station Yard, Abermule.

Councillor Pugh is a member of the authority's planning committee.

He declared an interest and left the chamber while the application was discussed and a decision was made.

Applications submitted by county councillors are called in to be discussed and decided by the planning committee, as opposed to being approved by officers using delegated powers.

The site is used as a storage area for equipment, materials and implements.

The planning department had made mistakes in the report on the size of the building saying it would be 98 metres in height to the ridge when it should have read eight metres.

An extra document had been sent out before the meeting by the council’s planning solicitor, Colin Edwards, which stated that he had reviewed the file and it had been "processed normally".

Abermule and Llandyssil Community Council had not been able to judge the proposal as they did not have enough councillors present to conduct a meeting legally.

Planning officer Bryn Pryce said that he was satisfied with the scale and appearance and highways officers were happy with the parking arrangements.

Councillor Les George, Conservative for Caersws, said: “I have read the report in-depth, I know the site an and it’s a good business employing local people.

“It’s unfortunate that the community council was not quorate when this was before them. If they had been I’m sure they would have been for it.”

Councillor Heulwen Hulme, Independent for Rhiwcynon, added that it was a well established business in the commercial part of the village.

Story by Local Democracy Reporter Elgan Hearn