A FAMILY’S plan to build an affordable home in a rural hamlet north of Cardigan has fallen at the first planning hurdle.

Ceredigion County Council planning officers have refused an outline application for an affordable home on agricultural land in Felinwynt, on the road between Y Ferwig and Aberporth.

The site, adjacent to Maes yr Awel, is in an area where development is strictly controlled.

A planning statement highlighted the need for the applicant to stay in the local area to support elderly and disabled relatives as well as the desire to use family land in light of significant plot costs elsewhere.

“It gives this young family an opportunity to get their own dwelling and remain to live and work within the area,” it adds.

An officer’s report also states that the scale parameters provided in the outline application – which would be followed by a more detailed plan if approved – would allow for a house “significantly larger” that the maximum standards for an affordable dwelling.

The potential for a two-storey house next to single storey homes, along with the location and scale “would have a detrimental impact on the landscape and character of the area,” the report adds.