Welsh council stops bank from getting a defibrillator

Plans to install life-saving equipment on a branch of a building society have been turned down because they would introduce "intrusive prominent and visually incongruous features" on a listed building with a giant coffee pot on it. Carmarthenshire Council's planning department rejected the Nationwide Building Society application on three grounds. Defibrillators can save lives by getting patients' hearts beating following cardiac arrest. They can be used by the public without training thanks to step-by-step audio instructions once switched on. Bleed kits, or critical bleed kits, contain specialised equipment to help stem severe blood loss. Nationwide Building Society wants to install defibrillator and bleed kit cabinets, which are approximately 2ft high and 1ft wide, on all its UK branches. It proposed fixing the defibrillator on the front of its Guildhall Square branch in Carmarthen , which is grade two-listed, and the bleed kit on the side. The building has a big metal coffee pot attached to it and is in the Carmarthen town conservation area. Stay informed on Carms news by signing up to our newsletter here A planning statement submitted as part of Nationwide's listed building application said the cabinets needed to be prominent so the public could see them and that it was felt they would have limited impact on the appearance of the conservation area. A one-page heritage impact assessment was also submitted which described features of the listed branch building, which dates from 1800, including 16 sash windows. It said installing the cabinets on the right front and side would keep them "positioned away from views of the Guildhall and other notable buildings on the square", and it considered that their life-saving credentials "outweighs any harm to the appearance of the conservation area". A council heritage officer said the application didn't provide enough information to properly assess its impact and listed key documents that were missing such as a more detailed heritage impact assessment, detailed drawings, and a method statement explaining how the work would be carried out. The heritage officer recommended refusal, saying the cabinets, based on the information provided, didn't preserve "the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building and do not preserve or enhance the conservation area". He added that the painted metal coffee pot attached to the building dated from the 19th century. A subsequent planning decision report by the council rejected the application on three grounds. It said the cabinets "would introduce prominent and visually incongruous features" and "obscure and disrupt important architectural detailing, including the Flemish bond brickwork, bow windows and bow fronted shop front". It added there would be a detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area and that the proposal didn't demonstrate high-quality design. Melanie James, a trustee of charity Heartbeat Trust UK and former High Sheriff of West Glamorgan, has spearheaded the roll-out of hundreds of critical bleed kits in south Wales, including 70 in Carmarthenshire. Reacting to the planning outcome, she said: "It is disappointing to see the local community will be denied the opportunity of having vital lifesaving equipment in terms of a publicly accessible defibrillator and bleed control kit due to a planning permission decision. "Lives are being saved on a daily basis by this equipment and they assist in filling the care gap in the case of an emergency. The trauma boxes need to be prominent so that they have maximum impact and in areas of good footfall." She added: "Hopefully a mutually beneficial solution will be found as soon as possible." The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted Nationwide Building Society to ask if it was considering appealing the decision, but it didn't respond at the time of going to press. St John Ambulance was to supply the cabinets.