Plans for a significant housing development in a small Pembrokeshire National Park village are being put out for public consultation this week.

Lawrenny Home Farm development, a £6m project that will see around 33 new homes and up to eight live-work offices built in the National Park village on the Cleddau river, was part of a Europe-wide Royal Institute of British Architects competition to find a perfect design.

The homes and offices, to be heated by woodchip from local woodlands, will almost double the size of the existing village. They will also have some of the best internet connectivity in the UK with so called Fibre to the Home (FTTH) bringing speeds of up to 300mbps.

The consultation exercise, being held on Tuesday, July 19, in Lawrenny village hall, will give locals an opportunity to review the designs, by Bristol architects Emmett Russell, that were drawn up before the recession caused the project to be mothballed. The winning plans have already been highly commended by the Design Commission for Wales and are expected to go before planners this autumn.

The plan to modernise and expand Lawrenny was originally conceived by farmer David Lort-Phillips and presented to the local authority in 1970. Over 40 years he rebuilt and modernised the mostly 18th century cottages. When he began, there were around a dozen habitable cottages, few with running water. Now there are 35 homes and more than 20 businesses based in the community.

First phase restoration work was recognised in the Prince of Wales Award scheme in 1975. In 2007, the village won the Calor Best Village in Wales award.

“Pembrokeshire is already one of the most wonderful places to live in the UK,” said David. “Small villages like Lawrenny have the potential to provide an almost unparalleled work-life balance. Lawrenny is a peaceful and beautiful location yet one which will have some of the best internet speeds in Wales, serving modern, beautifully designed and well-built homes and offices. This village is right in the middle of the National Park, on the shores of the Haven, a short distance from the coast: it provides a natural playground for young and old.”

The £6m development will also see the old Home Farm, an organic dairy business that has been based in the middle of the village for 60 years, moved to a new purpose-built site outside the village. At one time, the farm employed nearly everyone living in the village. Now it employs just three staff.

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“Building homes in our communities that serve the needs of 21st century families brings huge value into the local area and to Pembrokeshire as a whole. Not only do local trades and services benefit from the investment, but the local community can also draw back its own sons and daughters to raise their families here. What’s more it attracts talented and ambitious newcomers who choose Pembrokeshire as the place to get that work-life balance just right,” said David.