A GWENDRAETH Valley rugby club, which has been hoping to gain retrospective planning for a community training area, has been given the green light by Carmarthenshire County Council.

Cefneithin RFC is developing an unused and overgrown piece of land at its Carmarthen Road ground into a training area complete with floodlights.

The club is hoping the scheme will not only safeguard the future of the club and the junior section, but would also be a major asset for the community and local schools. Work on the land began two years ago and is ongoing.

The application was reviewed at a recent meeting of Carmarthenshire County Council where it was disclosed that objections had been received about the plans.

These objections had stated that there had been lack of consultation by the club and there would be a loss of amenity and light along with fears of potential noise and anti-social behaviour.

The objections also included observations about inadequate access and parking and the existence of Japanese Knotweed. All points were responded to by the applicant.

Following a site visit to view the floodlights from the activity area and the objector’s property the council has however authorised the head of planning to approve the plans subject to a detailed lighting plan being drawn-up.