A long-running Milford Haven planning saga moved a step closer to being resolved last month, after planning permission for a large development in the Castle Pill area was approved.

The plans include 72 homes, five retail units and a water sports club building, with related infrastructure and parking.

The application is part of a 16 hectare site, which was granted outline planning permission for 72 dwellings, a 200-berth marina as well as restaurants and shops in 2001.

The time frame for reserved matters to be submitted was extended in 2004 and 2006, after which the ownership of the land was transferred to Brightonbased property developers Allied Land Ltd.

The approved application, which was submitted in 2008, only relates to the part of the site adjoining the Pill and does not include plans for the marina.

A Pembrokeshire County Council report stated the development “would take the form of blocks, which would be arranged around courtyards”

with the retail and watersports building in the centre.

The buildings would be grouped into “blocks of four to eight units with a number of smaller blocks of two or three units”.

The access to the site via Vicary Crescent will have to be improved to remove a condition limiting development to only 40 dwellings.

At the time it was first submitted, Milford Haven Town Council recommended the application for approval, but made a number of observations, including concerns on the increase in traffic entering Vicary Crescent and calls for an updated Special Area of Conservation and ecology report.

The application has been met with objection from Milford Haven Port Authority and a resident of Vicary Crescent.