Pembrokeshire County Council announced tonight (February 10) that the Home Office has re-confirmed that a planning application is being prepared to allow the temporary use of Penally Camp as an asylum seekers accommodation centre to continue for a further six months (beyond March 21 2021).

However, the Home Office have now made it clear that any planning application will not be submitted to the local authority until around mid-April 2021.

The Home Office have advised PCC?that their appointed consultant are working to complete the majority of the technical reports, including - a Phase 1 Ecological Survey, Noise Assessment, Heritage Report, Transport Report and Flood Risk Assessment.

The Home Office have stated that they will begin the required pre-application consultation, a formal 28-day period for public consultation process, in mid-March. 

Following the consultation period, the responses will be collated and the pre-application consultation report prepared - meaning that the site will therefore be under occupation, but without the requisite planning consents being in place, whilst the application process is followed.

“The Council have been in continual contact with the Home Office and their planning consultant over the last five months, seeking clarification around their planning intention - and this recent correspondence confirms their intention to progress a planning application,” said a spokesperson for Pembrokeshire County Council.

“We are disappointed that the Home Office have only now made their intent clear.

“It is of concern that they have not been able to submit a planning application within the required timescale.

“The Council has always challenged the Home Office as to the suitability of the accommodation.

“We have also always tried to work with key bodies involved to ensure those in the camp and the surrounding community are kept safe, treated with dignity.

“We acknowledge this latest update is unsettling and we will continue to work to ensure community cohesion can be restored following this disruptive decision,” they added.