Monthly Archives: May 2021

A new assault on Pen-yr-anchor

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by The Curious Scribbler

Two years ago I was among many shocked by the appearance of the first residential block on the site where the ill-fated Plas Morolwg formerly stood. That build is now complete and the  massive and unattractive ramparts of Maes y Mor now tower above the road to Tanybwlch beach.

Many people felt that  planners displayed a distinct lack of aesthetic sense in approving this development overlooking our pretty harbour. Now, it seems that opportunist developers Ellis D&B Ltd have concluded that this part of Aberystwyth is a taste-free zone, and provides the perfect opportunity to cram in a yet taller tower block, this one to house six rather expensive apartments.

A montage of the end view of the proposed building, with Alltwen beyond.

I am always intrigued by the tricks of the planning application.  This building is described as six storey, which would already make it the tallest building in Aberystwyth, but if you look at the plans it actually has eight floors!  it is topped by an entirely unnecessary roofed ‘amenity area’, and, owing to the sloping site, the occupants would enter the building from Penyranchor on the second floor!  Most people would think it an eight storey development.

Another quirk is the ‘two bedroomed apartment’ description.  It is probably true that there is a need for more accommodation of this size.  However look at the floor plans! Most people would consider them three-bed flats.  The third ‘bedroom’ is designated an office! Two bathrooms seems quite lavish.

The timing of the application is understandable,  for the new structure will block the view out from balconies of the new Maes y Mor flats and would generate shrieks of objection from the 56 new owners, were they already installed.   There isn’t much about the visual impact in this application except for one elevation plan.  Look closely –  the proposed building gazes straight into the windows of Maes y Mor, and is level with its roof.

It will also tower oppressively above the established owners of the flats in Y Lanfa and St David’s Wharf.

Just room for a tower block? In the space between Y Lanfa, St David’s Wharf and the new residential block on the Plas Morolwg site.

The Ceredigion planning portal is filling up with letters of objection, many of them from the residents of Y Lanfa and St David’s Wharf.  It is intriguing that the residents hold 999 year leases to areas where they park, but which are included in the land subject to this development.  The Applicant states Certificate of Ownership – Certificate A – Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012   I certify/the applicant certifies that on the day 21 days before the date of this application nobody except myself/the applicant was the owner (owner is a person with a freehold interest or leasehold interest with at least seven years left to run) of any part of the land or building to which the application relates.

It might be hoped that this alone would be grounds to refuse Planning Permission, but wider public opinion is very important.   I am told that the yellow planning notice (Application A210143 Residential development comprising 6×2-bedroom self-contained apartments) only appeared a few days before the closing date for comments, but that actually these can be submitted until 28 May.  The view towards Pendinas from across the harbour, and indeed the visual appearance of the balconied front of this development are entirely overlooked in the application.

Several commentators have also remarked on the cosmetic appearance on the plan of three green circles, representing trees to enhance this development.  This is an interesting idea, and I wonder very much what sort of trees they have in mind.  The garden of Windover on Penyranchor has a hedge of beech trees, approaching 80 years of age, wind burnt, sloping away from the westerlies, and not more than 15 feet tall after all these years. Valerian, Thrift and Sea Campion thrive on this thin soiled site.  Both trees and an eight storey apartment block would be aliens here.

Afterword:

I have just read the comments submitted by Neil Gale.on the Planning design and Access Statement.   This apparently reads:

7.11 “Considering any visual prominence the land is only able to be seen from locations to the west which are limited to the lower section of Aberystwyth Marina/ end of South Marine Terrace Road, neither of which constitute protected view points”

How far from the truth!  Mr Gale supplied a recent photo from the Castle Grounds:  An eight story apartment block springing up in the centre of this view would break the only unifying character of the developments here, which is that each building is, in relative propertion, long and low(ish).

The view of Maes y Mor from the Castle Grounds.  Photo: Neil Gale

 

The fright of the Bumblebee

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by The Curious Scribbler

I have spent the last two Tuesdays being trained in bumblebee identification, and I have to say it was challenging.  The course, provided by the West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre ( popularly known as WWBIC) aspired to render us confident in identifying the eight commonest species of bumblebee and our homework after the first session was to send in our photos of bees.

Popping outside to the Cotoneaster horizontalis I found several candidates: gingery brown bees, black bees with red on the tail, and black bees striped like bar codes in yellow with whitish, buff or peachy rear ends.  Confusing enough, they do not keep still for long, and photographing them proved challenging.  Often I found I’d caught a perfectly focused leaf, but the bee had just droned out of the picture.  Memorizing the stripe patterns is also demanding.  To the superficial glance, quite a few bees have one or two yellow bars across the body, but some have three.  In this case there are adjoining stripes on the back of the thorax and the front of the abdomen as in the large and attractive Garden Bumblebee.  But bumble bees are noted for their rounded appearance so that the ‘waist’ between thorax and abdomen is far from obvious!  And distinguishing between white and buff on the tail of flying bee is also quite subjective.

A Buff Tailed bumblebee

Claire Flynn, project officer for Skills for Bees Cymru guided us through this minefield and we learnt that there were in all 24 different species of bumbles recorded  in the UK, and with the differing appearances of queens, drones and worker bees this adds to the variety.  The Bumblebee Conservation Trust has produced some helpful guides to sorting them all out. There is also an online chart.

Then there is the distinction between Cuckoo Bumblebees and the regular sort.  The Cuckoos do just what you would expect, zooming around looking for bees nests in which to deposit their own eggs and get a  free bee-rearing service.  They are seen eating nectar from flowers but they do not have pollen baskets on their hind legs, for they have no need to carry pollen home.  If they would keep still for long enough one might see that they have hairy thighs, rather than the smooth patch on which their more industrious relations scrape off the pollen.  In class we were introduced to  six species of cuckoo bee, each of which tends to bear an uncanny resemblance to the species which it parasitizes.  I find this particularly remarkable.  Does their disguise aid their  entry to the nest?  The cuckoo bird has no such deception, foisting an entirely different looking chick upon credulous warbler parents.

In all I photographed four species of bumblebees on my cotoneaster, the most abundant being the carder bees, medium sized furry ginger jobs which might be deemed among the easiest to identify.

A Carder Bee on my cotoneaster

However the experts are in doubt.  One of my bee portraits might, just possibly, be not the Common Carder bee Bombus pascuorum but the rarer Brown Banded Carder bee Bombus humilis.

How to be sure?   Apparently I need to look out for black hairs amongst the bee fuzz. B. pascuorum has some black hairs on the abdomen while B. humilis only has a few black hairs in the armpits (wing bases really).  And if I can lay my hands on a male bee I could inspect his genital capsule for additional clues.

An Early Bumblebee worker, unlike the queens and drones has one yellow stripe not two!

The Red tailed Bumblebee seems easier to identify, though there is also a cuckoo bee and a carder bee with the same colouring!

It is hoped that with further practice we may submit useful records of the bees we see on the WWBIC website or via the LERC app on our phones.  Bee recorders are in short supply, and can provide vital information on the fortunes of our bumblebee populations.

Postscript:  Having sent in a number of additional pictures of my Carder bees they have now been accepted by the experts as definitely the rarer Brown Banded Carder Bee!