Issue - meetings

Erection of 25 affordable dwellings, creation of new vehicular access from the B4354, together with associated works

LOCAL MEMBER: Councillor Rhys Tudur

Link to relevant background documents

DECISION: To refuse the application contrary to the recommendation

Reason:  On the basis of a lack of need for the affordable housing located on the part of the site that forms an exception site

As a result, the application will be referred to a cooling off period and will return to the Committee on another date with a report highlighting risks arising from this reason for refusal and the reasons noted by the Local Member during the Committee.

Land adjacent to Brynhyfryd / Cae Capel, Chwilog, LL53 6SF

Erection of 25 affordable houses, creation of new vehicular access off the B4354 as well as associated work

a)           The Planning Manager highlighted that most of the area of this full application was within a site which had been accepted and earmarked as suitable for residential development by means of its designation in the LDP for this specific proposal. It was noted that the status of Chwilog (a village defined as a Service Village within the LDP) meant that new houses to serve Gwynedd as a whole was expected for this site as in other similar cases on designated sites throughout the County. Attention was drawn to the fact that a section in the north-west of the site was outside the designation of the development boundary itself and therefore, this section was considered as an exception site. 

It was explained that the class 2 public road B4354 ran parallel with the northern boundary of the site; there were residential homes directly abutting the eastern boundary of the site, and residential homes on the other side of the road to the north. It was noted that the section of the site outside the boundary abutted the north-western part of the main site and currently formed part of the curtilage of the adjacent residential property - Brynhyfryd Farm.

The proposal, specifically, would include 6 one-bedroom flats, 9 two-bedroom houses, 8 three-bedroom houses and 2 two-bedroom bungalows - the proposed development offered 100% affordable housing with a mix provided in terms of occupancy. In terms of appearance, the houses would be finished in a mix of materials to convey different styles and to vary the appearance on the site.

It was reported that the Planning Committee had already approved the principle of a residential development on this designated site on three past occasions, and it was highlighted that the policy considerations made on two previous applications remained the same - it was considered that there was justification and demand for the proposal, and it continued to address the needs of the local community. Information was submitted as part of this application from the Housing Strategic Unit clearly showing the demand.

In terms of the land outside the development boundary and the designation that formed the exception site, it was explained that the requirements of policy TAI 16 applied to this element of placing four houses in this part of the site (2 three-bedroom houses, 1 two-bedroom house and 1 two-bedroom bungalow). In terms of considering the demand for the four houses, it was elaborated that the local definition included the village of Chwilog itself as well as the nearby rural area (a distance of 6km from the application site and the entire area of any Community Council divided by the 6km distance, excluding property within the development boundary of any settlement, except for the settlement where the application is located). It was highlighted that information on the need for affordable housing had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9