Agenda item

Construction of one dwelling

 

LOCAL MEMBER: Councillor Anne Lloyd-Jones

 

Link to relevant background documents

 

DECISION: To refuse:-

 

·         The site lies in open countryside and the proposal is not an application for a rural enterprise dwelling and therefore it is considered that the proposal is contrary to Strategic Policy PS 17 and Policy PCYFF 1 of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan, together with Planning Policy Wales and Technical Advice Note 6: planning for sustainable rural communities.

 

·         The applicants have not been assessed as applicants in need of an affordable home, the size of the property is substantially larger than an affordable home as defined in the Supplementary Planning Guidance: Affordable Housing; and as there is no open market valuation of the property, it cannot be certain that the property would have an affordable price or continue to be affordable in future.  Therefore, it is not considered that the proposal in question would provide an affordable home on the site and that the proposal is therefore contrary to the requirements of policy TAI 16 of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan that only allows proposals for schemes that are 100% affordable homes. It is also contrary to the contents of the Supplementary Planning Guidance: Affordable Housing

Construction of one dwelling

 

Attention was drawn to the late observations form.

 

a)            The Planning Manager highlighted that this was a full application to construct a dwelling (3 bedrooms) primarily of a two-storey design to include a garden store underneath a section of the proposed house (that would make that section three-storeys) on land near Môr Awelon, Ffordd Brynhyfryd, Tywyn.   

 

As part of the application, the following were submitted - a Welsh Language Statement, Design and Access Assessment, Planning Statement, Initial Ecological Assessment and a letter of further justification for a house on the site in the countryside but exactly adjacent to the Tywyn development boundary.  It was added that the site was within the Dysynni Valley Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest with mainly gorse hedges and a few trees on the boundary with the A493 class 1 road and Tywyn Hospital which is a Grade II listed building on the other side. 

 

The application was submitted to the Committee at the request of the former Local Member, Councillor Mike Stevens

 

It was explained that the proposals maps for Tywyn highlight that the site lies outside the development boundary of the local service centre and therefore it was considered that this was tantamount to erecting a new house in the countryside.   It was noted that Strategic Policy PS 17 - Settlement Strategy concerning the distribution of housing, in terms of a site in open countryside notes that only housing development that complies with Planning Policy Wales and TAN 6 will be permitted in the Open Countryside.   In accordance with TAN 6, one of the few circumstances in which a new residential development in the open countryside can be justified is when accommodation is required to enable a rural enterprise worker to live at, or close to, his workplace.  It was considered that the existing application was not an application for a rural enterprise dwelling and therefore the proposal was contrary to Strategic Policy PS 17 and Policy PCYFF 1, together with Planning Policy Wales and TAN 6.

 

In the context of justifying the need for an affordable house on the site, it was highlighted that the applicants had not been assessed as applicants in need of an affordable home, and the size of the property was substantially larger than the size of an affordable home. In addition, and as there was no open market valuation of the property, it could not be certain that the property would have an affordable price or continue to be affordable in future.  It was considered that the proposal in question would not provide an affordable house on the site and the proposal was therefore contrary to the requirements of policy TAI 16 that can only support as exceptions proposals for housing schemes that are 100% affordable on sites that are directly adjacent to a development boundary and which form a reasonable extension to the settlement and to the contents of the Affordable Housing SPG.

 

Following the receipt of the location plan and the amended site plan together with additional information regarding the visibility splays, it was noted that the reason for refusal involved creating a new access and this had been removed.   

 

b)            Taking advantage of the right to speak, the applicant’s agent noted the following points:

·         The property was a self-build

·         The applicants were local to Tywyn and had run a successful business in the area for over 30 years

·         Their business site offered residential property on the site, however, the applicants now wanted to retire and needed to establish a home. 

·         Although they owned another house in the town, a family already lived there. 

·         There was a lack of houses for sale in the area and opportunities for self-building

·         There was local support to self-building that was responding to the need 

·         That the site was suitable with good connections

·         The design was suitable and it was proposed to use local materials

·         Alterations to the access and to relocate the access to the public footpath was now acceptable.

 

c)            Taking advantage of the right to speak, the Local Member made the following points:

·         Although there was a Local Member, the application had been called in by another Member

·         The site was outside the development boundary and therefore did not meet with the policy

·         The proposal was contrary to the requirements of Policy TAI 16

·         The site was to be considered as one to be included when reviewing the Planning Policy - the application was premature

·         Concerns had been highlighted in the town and a number objected to the application

·         Initial concerns with the access, however, the adaptations were accepted

·         Despite noting the 'need' for a house - a bungalow was available at their current property

·         Agreed with the recommendation to refuse the application

 

d)            It was proposed and seconded to refuse the application.

 

RESOLVED: To refuse:-

 

·                The site lies in open countryside and the proposal is not an application for a rural enterprise dwelling and therefore it is considered that the proposal is contrary to Strategic Policy PS 17 and Policy PCYFF 1 of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan, together with Planning Policy Wales and Technical Advice Note 6: planning for sustainable rural communities.

 

·                The applicants have not been assessed as applicants in need of an affordable home, the size of the property is substantially larger than an affordable home as defined in the Supplementary Planning Guidance: Affordable Housing; and as there is no open market valuation of the property, it cannot be certain that the property would have an affordable price or continue to be affordable in future.  Therefore, it is not considered that the proposal in question would provide an affordable home on the site and that the proposal is therefore contrary to the requirements of policy TAI 16 of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan that only allows proposals for schemes that are 100% affordable homes.  It is also contrary to the contents of the Supplementary Planning Guidance: Affordable Housing.