Smallholders Permitted to Keep Glamping Pods following Appeal

SMALLHOLDERS who were told to remove glamping pods and hot tubs with superb views across a valley in Carmarthenshire can now keep them.

Anna Robinson, of Lan Farm, Whitemill, who lives with her husband Guy, said it had been a stressful time. “It’s a huge relief,” she said.

“If we didn’t have the pods we could not afford to run the place as a smallholding.”

She had appealed an enforcement notice issued by Carmarthenshire Council, which in 2024 had turned down a part-retrospective planning application by her on four grounds.

The enforcement notice from autumn 2025 required the couple to remove the pods, hut tubs, decking and any foul drainage system and restore the land within three months.

The appeal was submitted by a planning agent on Mrs Robinson’s behalf and now a Welsh Government-appointed planning inspector has had the final say.

The inspector considered two main issues: whether the site was an acceptable location for the development; and the effect on the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area.

The inspector’s decision report said the two pods were small-scale development and therefore acceptable in what was open countryside, but added that not much supporting detail had been supplied about the diversification aspect of the scheme.

“The farm operation is stated to be the keeping of around 80 sheep, producing sileage and haylage and some farm contracting, but this is un-evidenced,” said the report. But it went on to say that it didn’t need to meet both the small-scale and farm diversification tests to be acceptable in the open countryside.

A person who lives with his family on the opposite of the valley to the application site objected saying the pods were “highly visible” including at night with their lights on and had a negative impact. The objection, which was also advanced at the appeal stage, argued there was no screening protecting the landscape looking towards the site.

The inspector said the pods had “pleasing” valley views and were visible from properties high up the other side, but that those properties were some distance away.

“The pods are of a simple yet high quality design which does not look out of place in a rural setting,” said the decision report. “The area under gravel has been kept to a minimum with the majority of the site still set to grass. The considerable stretches of new planting help to soften the overall appearance of the development and will provide additional screening and visual interest as it matures.”

It added that the pods’ external lighting appeared to be low key and downward-facing.

The county council also set out arguments at the appeal stage – it considered the development to be inappropriate and lacking justification for the location.

The inspector quashed the enforcement notice and granted permission while adding three conditions, including that the pods were only to be used as holiday accommodation.

Mrs Robinson had also contested the notice on the grounds, she said, that it had been only served on her and not her husband Guy as well. The inspector said the council provided evidence of it being issued in both their names and therefore served as required.

Mrs Robinson described the income generated from the self-contained pods as very important. Her mother also lives on the smallholding, and they keep goats, pigs and alpacas as well as sheep.

“Everybody loves the pods,” said Mrs Robinson. “We provide local milk and produce. They love the peace and quiet.”