LibDem councillor Heather Kidd, a strong and consistent supporter of SSDC’s affordable homes policy said: “On the face of it this decision drives a coach and horses through our policy. I think this could be a dangerous step. 

“The policy is strong because we have not, until now, made exceptions.”

Developers Muller England Ltd had argued that without planning permission for the 6.4 acre site, the firm would be forced to lay off more than 65 local skilled workers. It would also be placed in difficulties with its pension scheme for some 300 former workers – many of them from Cleobury.

Councillors at Wednesday planning committee meeting felt this was too high a price.

Muller England’s chief executive Graham Farr was pleased to see the application at Cleobury Mortimer, which he hopes will bring security, more jobs and homes.  

The company had also pledged to give 1.09 acres of the site to the parish council to “use as it sees fit.”

Cleobury Mortimer district and parish councillor Gwilym Butler, who spoke for the application said the amount of local support was “overwhelming with not one objection.” 

He said: “The application is not just for the future of this site but also the future of the economy in the area.” 

“If we want more employment land we can identify it on the outskirts of the town, just like has occurred in Ludlow. I believe this is our best opportunity for the site.”  

Cleobury councillor, Betty Davies, said she would like to see the application go to full council because she had concerns about the people who had lived and worked in Cleobury Mortimer all their lives and whose pensions were in jeopardy. 

The committee recommended by a narrow margin of four votes to three that the application go to full council for approval but it may be called in for further discussion by the scrutiny committee first. 

Councillors on the at South Shropshire District Council planning committee this week approved the application. 

Resident David Mason was at the meeting. He spoke on behalf of residents who are objecting to the plans, saying they do not complement the landscape and impacted on the Shropshire Hills. 

He said: “Diddlebury has no main drains and the development will screw the drains up completely and we already have problems with flooding.”

Supporters of the development said they had held public consultations all the way through the process and, at the last one, 74 per cent of the people who came said the community centre’s design met the needs of the people.

Councillor John Lloyd said the development amounted to a leisure centre for the Corvedale and the project was very ambitious. He said: “Should it not be on a main road with proper transport and a bigger catchment area?”

Councillor Vi Parry said the scale of the planned development was “unbelievable” and added that it was “totally wrong”.

Jake Berriman, head of planning at SSDC, confirmed that the development did not fall within the area of outstanding natural beauty or a conservation order. 

The planning committee’s vote, after a lengthy debate, totalled two councillors ‘for’ and two ‘against’ with four abstentions. 

Committee chairman Cllr Colin Pendry, had the casting vote and gave his approval.

After an evenly balanced first half in which Ludlow twice struck the woodwork, it was Heath Town – on their first ever visit to the SBS Stadium – who broke the deadlock on 57 minutes.

From a Nathan Jones corner, Leon Pugh escaped the attentions of the defence to produce a spectacular low flying header which left stand-in keeper Ben Barnfield with no chance. 

Ludlow had claims for a blatant penalty turned down when former Manchester United youngster Sean Evans was brought down in the Rangers area and his appeals resulted in a yellow card being shown.

Rangers keeper Leigh Oliver promptly sent a high ball down the middle which found Paul Harris, who beat two Town defenders and fired the ball to the right of  Barnfield into the corner of the net.

Barnfield then pulled off a fantastic save to prevent goal number three when he kept out a close range header from substitute Onwerekogza Owendu. 

On 77 minutes, Gareth Rhodes almost reduced the arrears for Town but his close range effort was tipped round the post by keeper Oliver.

But the hosts were back in the hunt when, with five minutes remaining, Evans fired home his third goal of the season when converting a well delivered through ball with a textbook right foot finish from close range. 

However, despite their never-say-die approach, Ludlow were unable to find that all important equaliser as they went down to their second league defeat of the season. 

On Tuesday evening, Ludlow’s hopes of securing their first win of the campaign were frustrated as their trip to near neighbours Bromyard Town – who beat Ledbury Town in the FA Cup over the weekend– was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Ludlow (v Heath Town): Ben Barnfield, Simon Bull, Doug Dineen, Lewis Ayres, Ryan King, Richard Wozencroft, Sean Evans, Dean Richards, Chris Breakwell, Dale Williams, Gareth Rhodes. Sub: Jamie Russell. 

Richards was anxious for a swift riposte after the disappointing 2-1 home reverse against Heath Town. But the club, who now have just one point from three outings, were surprised to learn that Tuesday’s game at Bromyard was off due to a waterlogged pitch.

“We were surprised to say the least to hear the game was called off at 2pm,” said Richards.

“We couldn’t believe it as we’re only 25 miles away and the weather was not that bad in Ludlow and Bromyard have one of the best pitches in the league.

“It’s very frustrating as we wanted to get back on the park after last Saturday. We had a full squad available and were hopeful of getting a good result. We’ve now got no game until next Wednesday when we take on Wellington at home.”

Ludlow plan a training session tomorrow as they reflect on last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Heath Town.

“Having conceded seven goals in our previous two games, we were pleased not to concede early and we should have been ahead at the break,” added Richards.

“The discipline was a lot better but we conceded a poor goal in the second half when we failed to pick up a lad from a corner.

“On their second goal we felt their forward pushed our full back while we also had a strong claim for a penalty turned down.”

Dale Williams hit the bar and Chris Breakwell the post as Ludlow went close in the first half. After going 2-0 down in the second period, it was always going to be tough but the hosts kept battling and reduced the arrears through Sean Evans.

Rhayader Town celebrated their return to the Spar Mid Wales League with a convincing victory at Carno on Wednesday night, August 20.

Chris Murphy netted twice and Simon Boss-Johnson and Dylan McPhee were also on target as Rhayader bounced back from Saturday’s Welsh Cup defeat. 

Rhayader were slow to settle and Carno enjoyed the better of the early exchanges but once Murphy broke the deadlock, in the words of player-manager McPhee: “We bossed the game”. 

Murphy struck after Tom Bethell saw his effort blocked and Boss-Johnson added a second with a cross-cum-shot just before half-time. 

Carno saw their fair share of possession in the second half but Rhayader were always dangerous on the break and Murphy headed his second and Town’s third from Marc Maunder’s corner. 

McPhee applied the coup de grace with a dipping 20-yard volley before Nick Lewis gained a consolation for Carno in the final minute.

NEWBRIDGE 2, NEWTOWN RES 3

Sam Williams scored twice on his Newbridge debut – but it was not enough, as last season’s runners-up hit back to steal the points at Penbont. 

The villagers got off to a dream start with Williams converting a fifth minute penalty when Christian Jones was brought down. 

Former Knighton striker Williams grabbed his second on the quarter of an hour mark with a superb 25-yard strike when he spotted keeper Ian Havard off his line after picking up a loose pass from Newtown defender Mark Thomas. 

Havard then denied Luke Boundford, who had linked with Williams, but Newtown gradually settled and reduced the deficit. 

Eifion Price turned over a Damien Daniels free-kick and from the resulting corner taken by Daniels, Richard Astley appeared to be unchallenged as he headed in at the far post. 

Two minutes into the second half it was all square, with Steffan Rowlands slipping Barry Bellis through after the hosts conceded possession in midfield. 

On 56 minutes, Newbridge were down to ten men, with midfielder Neil Davies dismissed following a challenge on Astley – his second yellow card. 

And to rub salt into the wound, Price failed to hold Daniels’s free-kick with Richard Evans nipping in to put Newtown ahead. 

Price then produced a fine save from Evans, and Rowlands blazed over from close range.

But Newbridge’s ten men remained in contention and might have salvaged a point, with a goal-line clearance denying Sam Williams his hat-trick.

A Knighton businessman, whose shop has been broken into three times in the last 18 months, has been told he cannot put up window shutters because it is in a conservation area.

Lee Chapman, who owns the Spar on Broad Street, has lost thousands of pounds of stock and has had to pay for emergency repairs following the break-ins, the latest of which was last week. 

He claims that without window shutters, his shop is a ‘soft target’ as the thieves smash through the windows to steal cigarettes and small bottles of spirits, because they are easy to carry and re-sell.

Now at the end of his tether, he says he cannot afford to keep losing his stock and having to pay for damage.

Mr Chapman claims the break-ins would stop immediately if he was allowed to put up window shutters. 

But Powys County Council claims the shutters would be detrimental to the visual amenity, character and vitality of the conservation area and the main shopping area of Knighton.

They are also concerned that if they gave Mr Chapman permission for shutters it would set a precedent for other businesses and ruin the look of the conservation area.

Mr Chapman said: “The planners say the shutters would be an eyesore for tourists and visitors but the shop does not close until 9.30pm and we are open at 6am. How many tourists are around the town then?

“We are open seven days a week so these shutters would not be down for a long period of time, but we do get the majority of break-ins in the town because of our stock. The cigarettes are in a secure cabinet in the shop but the burglary before last they ripped that cabinet off the wall.

“There is a shop further up the road that has had external shutters for about 15 years but nobody has asked them to take them down, as far as I am aware, and they have never had a break-in to my knowledge.

“The council expects people to be able to shop locally and support local businesses and we are fortunate in Knighton that they do, but we cannot afford to keep losing this amount of stock and having to pay for this damage because the council is too narrow-minded to allow us to have shutters.

“I had the Spar in Church Stretton and as soon as we put the shutters up we did not have anther break-in. At the moment, in Knighton, we are a soft target.

“Over the last 18 months our insurance has paid for some of the lost stock but we have to prove to them that we have bought it. In the meantime we have lost out on sales because we don’t have cigarettes to sell, and our excesses on the insurance for claims for stock and damage to the shop have gone up,” Mr Chapman said.

“We have also got the cost of emergency repairs for the men who come out in the night to put temporary hoardings up, but at what cost is the stress and the hassle for my staff that have to come out in the early hours of the morning, to wait for the police and sit for hours waiting for the repairs to be made?

“It’s not fair. I feel very bad as the employer that they are having to do that and to my mind this could be stopped completely if we were allowed to put shutters on the front of the shop.”

Mr Chapman said planning officers, under delegated powers, had turned down an application for shutters in 2006 and other enquiries had been made recently but the response had not been favourable.

A spokesman for Powys County Council said they accepted that for most daylight hours the shutters would not be visible but they were concerned about the visual amenity of the box above the shopfront which would house the shutters, and the removal of the existing awning.

They also said that when the shutter was down it would present ‘a dead frontage’, that the proposal would be detrimental to the visual amenity of the building and the conservation area and the image of vitality of the retail core area, and it could lead to a dangerous precedent of ‘dead shop frontage’ in the town centre.

Heather said: “If Powys County Council approves these plans it would mean that a minimum of 240 fifty-metre-long loads would be moved at night along some pretty small roads in my ward.”

The Liberal Democrat councillor said the lorries would move in convoys of three – at least 80 of them. 

“Their route from Welshpool to Kerry  is along the A490, then the B4365 to Kerry then into Shropshire at the Blue Bell Inn where the corner at the junction will have to be realigned. 

“These roads will be closed during this time as the loads will take up the carriageway.

“It seems that the planning departments of both Shropshire County Council and the district have been consulted on the wind farms themselves but not apparently on the highways impact. 

“I suspect this is because the applicant didn’t realise that the route goes into Shropshire at this point.”

“Quite apart from the disruption this is going to cause to local people along the route, I have severe doubts about the objectives of this scheme. 

“The idea behind renewable energy is to reduce carbon emissions, but the amount of carbon these vehicles will generate on their circuitous route seems to negate the whole exercise 

“County Councillor Peter Phillips and I have asked for a meeting with Tony Crossland from the County’s Highways De-partment to discuss these proposals and the likelihood of Powys confirming the scheme.”

An eagle-eyed Presteigne man out-smarted criminals when he spotted a skimming device fitted to a Knighton cash dispenser and potentially saved scores of people from having money taken from their accounts.

Craig Nowell was just about to get some money out of the HSBC ATM on Broad Street on Sunday at abut 5.30pm, when he thought something did not look right.

The colour of parts of the dispenser was different and there was a metal tag near the card slot and another strip with a hole in it at the top of the machine.

Clever Craig had seen warnings on Crimewatch just the week before about suspicious cash dispensers and he remembered the tell-tale signs, one of which was the strip with a hole  which is a camera filming PIN numbers.

The quick-thinking 22-year-old covered his PIN number as he entered it and obtained his money as his card was already in the machine, before going to track down a police officer.

Craig called at Knighton and Presteigne Police Stations but there were no officers around, so he called Llandrindod Wells Police Station and they called for an officer to attend.

Constable Mark Staggs accompanied Craig and his girlfriend Lucy Sheen to the cash dispenser where he removed the skimming device that had been attached to it. It has now be sent away for forensic tests.

Craig said: “When I put my card into the machine, it just did not seem right. There was a strip that was a darker silver than normal where you put your card in and then I noticed a little metal tag on the right-hand side of the card slot. I looked up and at the top there was another strip with a hole in it and when I saw the piece on Crimewatch they said to look out for that.

“On Crimewatch they said one in five people are losing money through these skimmers.

“It is a nice feeling to know that I had spotted it and hopefully saved some people from losing money because a lot of people could have been caught out over a weekend.

“I have never come across one before. My girlfriend did not believe that it could happen in Knighton and we would find it.

“I will definitely be more careful in the future, and I will be looking for any strange devices to see if I can find any more.”

HSBC confirmed that it had been notified that a device had been found at the branch and advised customers that they should monitor their accounts.

A spokeswoman said the bank also notifies its customers of any suspicious activities on their accounts and that it reimburses ‘all genuine’ victims of fraud.

The UK banking industry advises people not to use cash machines if they notice anything unusual or signs of tampering and to report it to the bank or premises owner immediately.

A spokesman for Dyfed Powys Police confirmed that an officer had attended the ATM.

“On Sunday, August 17, police were called to a bank in Knighton where it was suspected that a skimming device had been attached to an ATM,” a spokesman said. “The device was removed and sent for forensic testing.

“Police would advise ATM users to be vigilant of any obvious tampering or unusual attachments. If you see anything suspicious do not remove any suspect devices or confront any fraudsters, but report it to the police.”

Anyone who has information which could help the police investigation is asked to contact either the police on 0845 330 2000 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Councillor Graeme Perks revealed he had resigned as the council’s official representative on the board of directors, saying he believed there was a potential conflict of interest between that position and being a town councillor. Councillor Perks then helped vote in Deputy Mayor Councillor Derek Davies as the council’s new representative.

Councillor Jeffry Wilcox said: “Why, if he doesn’t think a representative from this council should be appointed director, should he vote for someone to be in that position –  someone who has been absolutely public in his distaste for Cittaslow Ludlow and all that it stands for?”

Councillor Perks failed to answer the question, so Councillor Wilcox asked it again, at which point Councillor Pope said: “This is out of order, it’s harassment.”

Clerk Linda Thomas said it was not a breach of standing orders to ask a question, but Councillor Perks was not obliged to answer.

Councillor Perks said he had stepped down because, aside from conflicts of interest, there needed to be clarification by Cittaslow International of what was expected from local government organisations in the UK.

Councillor Graeme Kidd,  president of Cittaslow UK, said there were many examples of councillors at town and district level involved as directors in organisations including South Shropshire Housing Association, Enterprise South West Shropshire and South Shropshire Furniture Scheme.

He added he had taken advice from monitoring officer Veronica Calderbank and spoken to organisations with councillors for directors and it was not generally considered a problem, providing the councillor did not have a controlling interest in the company.

Councillor Kidd said Cittaslow UK would provide the council with details of how it expected local government organisations to operate when putting Cittaslow principles into practice in their own localities.

Councillor Jeffrey Wilcox was commenting at a council meeting this week after town clerk Linda Thomas confirmed the deadline for applying for EU funding expired at the end of May. Town councillors were initially unable to reach agreement on whether to move forward with other funding applications for the scheme.

Councillor Michael Bradley said: “The first time I had ever seen these plans was on July 14 when a market trader produced them at a services committee meeting.

“I understand that if we are applying for this funding, we are applying on the basis of this layout and if we are given the funding on the basis of this layout, it cannot be changed in any way shape or form.”

Councillor Bradley said he was concerned the plans did not leave space for mobile units with extended awning flaps alongside the proposed new covers for other stalls.

But town clerk Mrs Thomas said the plans had been put before councillors at the last council meeting and the most recent plans included provision for moving the units.

Councillor John Aitken said: “The sooner we come to a decision to go ahead, the better. The major part of this funding application is for an improvement to the stalls’ structure and fabric and services. That is the significant part of this application, this is the part we should be moving on. 

“We are going round in circles. The loss of further funding applications can only increase.”

It was finally resolved to push forward with the funding application, which is being handled by the town clerk and Tom Brettell of South Shropshire District Council.