Plans for tourist accommodation just to the south of Rhayader will come before councillors for a decision over four years after the application was first lodged with Powys County Council.

Tony Davies and his wife Angela submitted the proposal in March 2021 for four holiday pods to be sited in a field at Cae Henfron, which is just off the A470 trunk road.

The pods will all have one bedroom, and the proposal includes access road and associated works which is “part-retrospective.”

The reason why the application will be brought to a meeting of the council’s Planning, Taxi Licensing and Rights of Way scrutiny committee on Thursday, July 17 is because Mrs Davies is now a senior Powys councillor.

Cllr Davies (Liberal Democrat) was elected to represent Rhayader at Powys council following the last local election in May 2022. She is a member of the Planning committee and is the chairwoman of the Economy, Residents and Communities scrutiny committee.

The application was discussed by Nantmel Community Council at a meeting back in April 2021 and “no objections” were raised against the proposal.

Dealing with the application has been a slow process due to new “interim” phosphate standards for the river Special Areas for Conservation (SACs) in Wales which came into force in 2021.

Any proposed development within the SAC catchments that might increase the amount of phosphate within the catchment could lead to additional damaging effects to the SAC features and need to be screened.

The nearby River Wye means this application, like others in the county, has been caught up in the interim standards.

Senior planning officer Rhian Griffiths said. “This guidance has now changed, and the application has been considered against the most up-to-date guidance.

“The application is made part-retrospectively, as the access track and ground levelling works have been undertaken.

“The Powys Local Development Plan (LDP) recognises the high-quality beauty and variety of the Powys landscape, which creates an area of great attractiveness and potential for high value tourism.

“The LDP further notes that tourism is one of the county’s main employment sectors.

“It is an important component of the rural economy and can help to provide new jobs and it is therefore desirable to support appropriate tourism related developments in principle, whilst sustaining the outstanding natural beauty.”

Another issue with the application is that it will mean a loss of agricultural land.

Planning Policy Wales outlines national policy towards preserving the best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land.

The predictive agricultural land classification (ALC) map indicates that the application site is classified as moderate quality agricultural land “3b.”

Ms Griffiths said: “Given the classification of the application site, the location of the proposed development is considered appropriate as development will not be undertaken on the most versatile land.

“On balance it is considered that the proposal complies with relevant planning policies, and the recommendation is therefore one of consent subject to conditions.”