Issue - meetings

Erection of 18 dwellings, new road and landscaping.

LOCAL MEMBER: Councillor Rheinallt Puw

Link to relevant background documents

DECISION: TO DEFER IN ORDER TO CONDUCT A SITE VISIT

Erection of 18 dwellings, new road and landscaping

a)    The Development Control Team Leader highlighted that this was an application to erect 18 affordable homes, a new estate road and landscaping on a dormant site in Bethesda. The application was split into the following elements: -

·         Providing 18 affordable, two-storey residential units to include 12 two-bedroom houses; 4 three-bedroom houses and 2 four-bedroom houses - varying in surface area and adhering to Welsh Government Design requirements.

·         Providing parking spaces within the curtilage of each house and off-road.

·         Access to the site would be a shared access with a more traditional plan for the estate road itself.

·         Landscaping within the site and on its periphery.

·         Biodiversity improvement plan to include boxes/roosts for bats and planting trees and shrubs to support local biodiversity.

·         Use of materials that reflected local materials for the external elevations of the houses to include natural slates, stonework, painted render and energy efficient UPv-c windows.

·         Installation of solar panels on the roofs.

·         The houses had been designed based on the design principles for preservation.

It was reported that the site was located on a plateau on the northern peripheries of the town and was within the Bethesda Local Service Centre development boundary as contained in the Gwynedd and Anglesey Joint Local Development Plan, 2017 (LDP). The site would be served from a nearby class III county road (Coetmor New Road) and would utilise the existing access.

It was explained that the principle of constructing houses on the site was based in policies CYFF 1, CYFF 2, TAI 2, TAI 15 and PS 5 of the LDP. Policy PCYFF1 stated that proposals would be approved within development boundaries in accordance with the other policies and proposals in the LDP, national planning policies and other material planning considerations.

As the Bethesda Local Services Centre had seen its expected growth level on windfall sites through units completed in the period from 2011 to 2021, the applicant had submitted additional information outlining how the proposal would meet the local community's needs:

·         That the mix of units proposed was based on the demand for local needs for the local area and they were of a flexible tenure. Although the development would not be the subject of Welsh Government's Social Housing Grant and was not in Cyngor Gwynedd's Housing Action Plan at present, the need for this type of housing remained strong within the local community.

·         That the Gwynedd Local Housing Market Assessment (2018) document noted there would be a demand for 707 additional affordable units between 2018 and 2023 in order to meet the need for this type of accommodation. The housing mix would respond to factors such as the features of the site, the need for social housing in Bethesda and local demography.

·         Provide 18 residential units that were 100% affordable on an accessible brownfield site within the development boundary with the units designed to the requirements of the Wales Development Quality - Beautiful Places and Homes (2021).

·         The Strategic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8