Cabin owner forced to move animals after planning breach
Carmarthenshire council orders a rare‑animal enthusiast to vacate his cabin and remove exotic species following a upheld enforcement notice.
A Carmarthenshire council enforcement notice has been upheld, ordering former Picton Castle bird‑business owner Michael Wale to vacate his log cabin and remove all non‑agricultural animals from his 17‑acre site near Llannon.
Wale ran a rare‑bird and exotic‑animal venture on the grounds of Picton Castle in Pembrokeshire until the lease expired and was not renewed, prompting him to relocate the collection to his former farm in north Carmarthenshire before selling that land.
In early 2022 he transferred the birds, wallabies, mongooses, porcupines, parrots and other exotic species to a woodland and marshy grassland parcel off the A476, where a prefabricated log cabin – originally sourced from Pembrokeshire – was erected as his residence.
The site now hosts a menagerie that includes horses, goats, chickens, ducks and, according to his agents, a pending purchase of sheep, alongside roughly thirty bird and animal enclosures.
Planning documents reveal that an initial scheme to develop a tourism facility with a car park, reception, office, toilet and veterinary centre was abandoned, and a scaled‑down proposal for a smaller venture was being prepared.
Carmarthenshire Council issued an enforcement notice alleging breaches of planning control, demanding that Wale cease residential use of the land, dismantle the cabin and stop keeping non‑agricultural birds and animals.
Wale’s representatives appealed the notice, arguing that the cabin was a temporary structure and that the proposed development would be modest, but a planning inspector appointed by Welsh ministers dismissed the appeal.
The inspector extended the compliance period to twelve months, matching the deadline for removing the cabin, its foul drainage system and all non‑agricultural enclosures, and ordered the site to be restored to its original condition.
Seven local objectors submitted formal concerns, citing sanitation problems, stray animals and disruptive sounds. One complained, “The noises I hear daily are not those of native species,” while another added the noise “often sounds like a tropical jungle.”
Llannon councillor Llinos Mai Davies said the site “adversely affected neighbouring properties and had a negative impact on the character of the area.”
The inspector’s decision also required wording amendments to the original enforcement notice, clarifying the twelve‑month timeframe for compliance.
Wale’s agents told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that a fresh planning application would be drawn up in an effort to retain the birds on the site, but the LDRS reported that Wale did not respond to their enquiry at the time of publication.
Members of the public can view the enforcement notice and any future applications on the council’s Public Notice Portal.