Planning Objection

Mr Bryan Thomas
Director of Environmental Services and Housing
Ceredigion County Council
Penmorfa
Aberaeron
SA46 0PA
30th November 2006

Planning Application No A061307 - Tafarn Cledlyn, Drefach, Llanybydder

Dear Mr Thomas,
I am writing as chairman of Clwb Cledlyn Club to object to the above-mentioned planning application. Clwb Cledlyn Club is a registered charity whose aim is to develop a community playground and gardens in Drefach.

Our aim is entirely consistent with, and, indeed, is promoted by the County Council's strategies, aims and policies relating to sports and recreation, community development, transport and sustainability. We would argue that, as a voluntary organisation working in partnership with the statutory and private sectors to deliver this aim, we are a model example of how the County Council envisages such developments should take place.

We attended a recent meeting of local residents, former patrons of Tafarn Y Cledlyn and other interested parties at which a detailed response to the applicant's planning statement was prepared. Clwb Cledlyn Club agrees with all the points made in the response document, entitled PLANNING STATEMENT RESPONSE - Objections to Planning Application A061307, and the response document, therefore, has our full support.

We also wish to make the following particular points:

Tafarn Y Cledlyn plays a vital role in the social structure of the local community.
It is the main focus of local community activities and has been sorely missed since it closed in January 2005. Without it the community would be seriously weakened.
It is used by a number of groups such as ours. Until it closed, Tafarn Y Cledlyn was the venue for all Clwb Cledlyn Club's management committee meetings and the vast majority of its fund-raising events. Since it closed, our charity's income from fund-raising has been severely affected.
Tafarn Y Cledlyn is a viable enterprise with considerable potential.
It is a popular public house. It is the only public house in the village and serves Drefach, Llanwenog, Cwmsychbant and further afield. It is located in a prominent position on a major road and attracts passing as well as local trade.
When the present owner bought Tafarn Y Cledlyn, he outbid two local prospective purchasers who wanted to buy the property to run as a public house. Clearly, they assessed it to be viable.
It also has the potential to be developed to provide a catering function and to incorporate other retail activities along the lines of The Pub is the Hub.

We thought it would be helpful if we provided you with some statistical information regarding the two aforementioned points to give you an idea of the wide range of activities we used to hold at Tafarn Y Cledlyn. I hope this will make clear to you the busy and popular nature of the public house, its value to local residents and its particular importance to our charity as a community facility:

In the 37-month period from November 2001, when Clwb Cledlyn was established, until January 2005, when Tafarn Y Cledlyn closed, Clwb Cledlyn held 47 management committee meetings and ran 58 fund-raising events. All of the management committee meetings and 53 of the fund-raising events were held at Tafarn Y Cledlyn. The 5 fund-raising events held elsewhere were outdoor events.
The fund-raising events at Tafarn Y Cledlyn included discos, parties, Karaoke, live music, quiz nights, parlour racing, mouse racing, pool and darts tournaments and charity auctions. Fund-raising events arranged especially for children included Christmas parties with a Santa's Grotto, Easter bonnet competitions, Halloween parties with best costume competitions and face painting, and numerous children's discos. These events raised some £1,000 pa (on average) for Clwb Cledlyn.
Since Tafarn Y Cledlyn closed, we have tried holding a number of fund-raising events at the next nearest public house in Cwrtnewydd, but the attendance and takings have been poor in comparison reflecting that:

Drefach, Llanwenog residents have nowhere near the same level of
attachment to a public house outside their community, and

other village communities have nowhere near the same sense of
commitment to the local aims and objectives of a Drefach/Llanwenog
charity.

In the 23 months since Tafarn Y Cledlyn closed, Clwb Cledlyn's takings from indoor fund-raising events has been under £200. Annual income from such events is, therefore, less than 10% of what would have been expected had Tafarn Y Cledlyn still been open. This has serious implications for the charity, which has to raise funds not only to cover its (not inconsiderable) running costs, but also to provide some of the finance required in order to qualify for matched funding support such as from Ceredigion County Council's Community Fund.

Tafarn Y Cledlyn is the only social meeting place for the local community. It is where everyday news and views were exchanged. It is where local people combined to form two darts teams and two pool teams playing in local leagues. It is where people who did not have their own transport (and, indeed, some who did) came to pick up their newspapers (collected from the shop in Llanwnen) and wait for the weekly mobile library, fish, meat and vegetable delivery vans to call. It was customarily where a substantial proportion of the community would congregate to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and festive occasions (especially Christmas morning and New Year's Eve). It is where the many sports fans in the locality preferred to watch televised major sporting events (international rugby and soccer matches in particular) in order to experience a special group atmosphere not attainable at home.

In our view, a change of use is neither necessary nor desirable. The suggestion in the applicant's planning statement that the public house is not viable is incorrect, as is its assessment of the impact on the local community. Furthermore, we do not understand how he or his consultants consider themselves qualified to make such judgements. Their arguments are certainly far from convincing.
We believe that a change of use is not justifiable and we, therefore, strongly object to this most unwelcome planning application.

Yours sincerely,
Hefin Davies
Chairman
Clwb Cledlyn Club

Clwb Cledlyn Club - developing recreational facilities for local children