A SIGN for development land for 42 houses left Talgarth residents confused after it was placed at the wrong site.

The McCartneys property sign appeared at the Woodlands Avenue entrance for the former Talgarth Community Primary School, adjacent to Tower Lane and the school field, on the evening of Thursday, May 2.

Residents were surprised as there has been a lot of local interest around the site since the former primary school was decommissioned in spring last year ahead of the building of the new Ysgol y Mynydd Du by the A4078.

Powys councillor William Powell has been involved with a local campaign group for over a year which is looking to safeguard the old primary school field as well as the Gothic Victorian school building.

Cllr Powell, who is also the chair of Talgarth Town Council, said: “The sign was noticed on Thursday around late afternoon or early evening, and I was contacted by Facebook Messenger and tagged by local people in comments on Facebook in posts about it.

“There was quite a big discussion around it, especially the fate of the building and the field. The thing is, people took it at face value as anyone would if they saw the signs from an established company.”

The sign, which was moved to the correct site on Friday, May 3, was intended for a field between Haygarth Surgery and Ysgol y Mynydd Du on the A4078. It was revealed that there had been an error by the contractor who is thought to have been confused by references to the schools and their adjacent fields.

Cllr Powell said: “After some intense exchanges and after we’d expressed our frustration – we got to the bottom of it and it was revealed that it had been placed at the wrong site by mistake.

“McCartneys were apologetic and they did say it was a simple human error and there was no intention behind it and that they regretted that it had happened.

“In fact they called me to say sorry and that they regretted it and to clarify that there was no intention there. I have accepted that and I am content with their apology.”

He said the town council has also been communicating with the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority to back residential development on the 1976 school site. He said: “We’ve stressed the importance of the school field as public open space. The town council has also stressed the heritage importance of the 1850s school building, where the late Lord Richard Livsey of Talgarth had been a pupil in the 1940s.”

While residents are keen for more affordable housing in the town, which would come with a housing development, they were worried about how tightly packed in the houses would be as well as losing the historic building and publicly used field.

Concern from the community about the for sale notice spread across Facebook, including comments tagging Cllr Powell and his colleague Cllr Louise Elston-Reeves, before it was confirmed by the estate agent and auctioneers to be a result of “human error” by the contractors.

One woman from Talgarth posted: “42 houses, that’s nuts. They will be like sardines”.

Others were quick to voice their initial concern that they had been “kept in the dark” by Powys Council and that the site was to be sold wholesale to a private developer despite previous assurance from Powys –these concerns were resolved when McCartneys admitted the mistake.

Cllr Powell said both he and the residents did find the situation funny in retrospect, however it had been concerning at the time as there had been no previous mention of 42 houses being built on the site.

While the Victorian Gothic building is not currently listed, he said there is currently a consultation on the area of Talgarth and that it has been noted as an item of interest locally which residents feel should be preserved and looked after.

The Liberal Democrat said residents had also concerned for an old oak tree on the site, thought to be around 400 years old, which would constrain any development which happens at the site in the future.

He said: The local community are relieved that this was ‘cock up rather than conspiracy’. There is strong support for affordable housing, but it has to be proportionate and it has to take into account the needs of existing residents.

“There is a need for proactive dialogue between the county council and local residents. This episode just reminds us how important that dialogue is.”

The Brecon & Radnor Express attempted to contact McCartneys for a comment about the sign being in the wrong place, but the estate agents and auctioneers did not respond by the time the paper went to print.