House prices are rising faster in west Wales than elsewhere

Planners in west Wales are to water down their controversial policy of keeping new or converted homes for local people.

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority debated the issue at a special meeting in Haverfordwest on Wednesday.

The authority has decided to avoid taking action against smaller developers until after a public inquiry into the county's development plan early next year.

The authority's meeting on Wednesday was called following an unsuccessful court battle over a planning appeal.

Two years ago the authority said new or converted homes on its land would only be for locals only.

The homes for locals policy - or Policy 47 as it is known - has no legal standing and will not be law until it is assessed during a public inquiry into Pembrokeshire's "joint unitary development plan".

But authority members had been implementing it because they feared a flood of planning applications before it was officially adopted.

Legal wrangle

Wednesday's decision not to follow the policy could affect up to 40 current applications.

The legal wrangle began when the policy was challenged by Tenby widow Lynn Delabertouche, who applied for permission to convert part of her home into flats.

Because she could not give an assurance that she would only sell to local people, her application was thrown out.

She appealed to the Welsh assembly government, which ruled in her favour - but then the authority refused to accept the decision and took it to the High Court.

A judge in Cardiff eventually upheld Mrs Delabertouche's appeal.

The authority had said it needed to restrict accommodation on national park land for environmental reasons.

Members had refused Mrs Delarbetouche's application on the grounds of precedent, but the High Court did not accept the argument.

House prices across Pembrokeshire have seen a huge increase during the recent property market boom.

Local estate agents have seen the average house price rise from �75,678 to �100,759.