Public to air views on market hall
A PUBLIC meeting is being held this week over the refurbishment of Llandeilo’s market hall.
The Carmarthenshire Council-led £4.16m project is expected to be finished by the end of the year, but recently-published plans for the interior layout have been met with disappointment by some in the town.
The aim is to transform the Grade II listed market on the corner of Carmarthen Street and New Road, to accommodate offices, shops, conference rooms, a cafe and a central area for events.
Speaking about the concerns locally, meeting organiser Cllr Christoph Fischer said: “Criticism revolves mainly around the lack of parking and the use of the top floor.
“The latter enjoys fantastic views over Llandeilo and was originally earmarked for a restaurant, which many people were excited about.”
Campaigners claim issues raised through social media and letters to the council have sparked the need for a public meeting with residents feeling their voices were not being heard over the plans.
A group of local residents are concerned that despite being a welcome addition to Llandeilo, the plans will not reflect the town’s needs and have called a public meeting at 7pm at the town’s Salutation Inn tonight.
Carmarthenshire Council said in response: “To clarify, the proposal for a first floor restaurant was not made by Carmarthenshire Council but by a third party interest, who were ultimately unable to complete the project as it was designed and therefore withdrew.
“The project put forward and presented to planning and funders by the local authority in 2019 was for mixed use including office, retail, light industrial, ground floor cafe and events area.”
Concern has also been raised at the reduction of parking spaces at the market hall site, but the council said it was unable to agree terms with the adjacent land owner and plans were revised to reflect the available area and therefore led to a reduction of parking spaces from 33 to 27.