The owner of a former mill is hoping to find a new use for the 19th Century building after plans to turn it into a wedding and events venue were rejected.
Dylan Rees said his grandfather Daniel Davies worked at the Old Mill in Llandybie, Carmarthenshire, and was the last miller in the village.
It ceased being used as a mill during the First World War, was later a gym and a boys’ club, and Mr Rees said the deteriorating building was “at a tipping point”.
An application by Mr Rees to Carmarthenshire council in 2022 to change the use of the mill was rejected.
Mr Rees, who grew up in the adjacent farmhouse, had proposed turning it into a multi-functional space, with accommodation above, for events for up to 100 people.
A transport statement by consultants on behalf of Mr Rees said 41 parking spaces were planned and that they considered the proposal was appropriately located and acceptable in terms of transport and highway impacts.
The council turned the application down on the grounds that it would lead to increased pedestrian movements along a section of King’s Road, where the mill is located, with no pedestrian facilities.
The Old Mill is grade II listed, and the council did approve Mr Rees’s application for listed building consent.
His application was supported by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
Former history lecturer Mr Rees said the Old Mill dated from 1806 and was on Wales heritage body Cadw’s “at risk” register.
Part of the front wall has collapsed, he said, and would be reinstated.
“The building has suffered deterioration – it’s at a tipping point,” said Mr Rees. “I want it to have a future. It needs a future.”
He said a number of Llandybie’s historic buildings were taken down in the 1960s and that the mill was one of the last survivors.
He said the village had expanded significantly since he grew up there in the 1980s.
Mr Rees, of Swansea, said the farmhouse, which he still owns, has been upgraded and is now rented out as a holiday let. He said he would look to submit a revised planning application to the council to convert the Old Mill into accommodation.
