Agenda item

Erection of 7 residential dwellings together with associated works.

LOCAL MEMBER: Councillor Gareth Morris Jones

Link to relevant background documents

 

DECISION: To refuse – Reasons

 

1.    The housing provision in Morfa Nefyn is already significantly higher than the provision set by the Joint Local Development Plan, and therefore it is not believed that the proposal would meet the recognised local need for housing. As a result, the development would lead to an over-provision of open market housing in the community, which is contrary to the requirements of policy TAI 4 of the LDP and the settlement strategy included in policy PS 17.

 

2.    Due to the potential market value of the proposed units for affordable homes, it is not possible to ensure that these units would remain affordable in order to meet the needs of the local community in the long-term and, therefore, the application is contrary to the requirements of Policy TAI 15 of the LDP.

 

3.    Based on the submitted information in the Linguistic Statement, the Local Planning Authority has not been convinced that the development would not cause significant harm to the character and balance of the Welsh language in the community and, therefore, the application is contrary to the requirements of policy PS 1 of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan.

 

Former St Mary's Church, Lôn yr Eglwys, Morfa Nefyn, Pwllheli, Gwynedd, LL53 6AR

Erection of seven dwellings and associated works.

 

a)    The Senior Development Control Officer highlighted that this was a full application for a residential development including 7 residential houses, an access road and ancillary work on the site of a former Catholic Church "Resurrection of Our Saviour", Morfa Nefyn (which had now been demolished). It was reiterated that the site was a brownfield site, measuring approximately 0.4 ha, located in a residential area of the Morfa Nefyn Coastal-Rural Village and the development would be in the form of a "cul-de-sac" with a vehicular access, parking space and separate garden for each unit.

 

It was noted that the plan was an update of a plan for six houses on the same site as was previously refused under reference C19/1174/42/LL for the reasons below:

·         It was not believed that the proposal would meet the acknowledged local needs for housing, and as a result, the development would lead to an over-development of open market housing in the community.

·         Lack of affordable provision as part of the plan

·         Harm to the amenities of local residents and users of Lôn yr Eglwys due to the narrowness of the access road

·         The Local Planning Authority had not been convinced that the development would not cause significant harm to the character and balance of the Welsh language in the community

 

As a result of the Committee's decision to refuse application C19/1174/42/LL, the decision was taken to Appeal (APP/Q6810/A/21/3266774) and it was refused on appeal for the following reasons:

·         "based on the evidence to hand, I have not been convinced that the proposal would make an appropriate contribution to local housing supply, including affordable housing. I conclude, therefore, that the proposal would not comply with policies PS 17, TAI 4 and TAI 15 of the LDP."

·         "In the absence of such information, I conclude that the proposal would be contrary to policy PS 1 of the LDP and Planning Policy Wales that seeks to promote and support the use of the Welsh language."

 

While accepting that every application must be considered on its own merits, when considering the history of the site and the observations of the Planning Inspector on the previous decision, it is believed that the two main questions to consider when determining this application were,

·         would the new plan contribute towards meeting the needs of the local community for housing?

·         would the proposal promote and support the use of the Welsh language in the community?

 

It was reported that Morfa Nefyn was earmarked as a Coastal-Rural Village in the LDP, and policy TAI 4 supports housing developments in order to meet the Plan's strategy by encouraging the use of suitable windfall sites within the development boundaries of settlements in this tier, when the size, scale, type and design of the development are balanced with the character of the settlement. It was noted that the indicative housing provision for Morfa Nefyn over the Plan period was 15 units and that during the period between 2011 and 2022, 33 units had been completed in Morfa Nefyn (each of these being windfall sites; 21 units more than the indicative supply for the Plan period).

 

In the context of the general and residential amenities, it was noted due to the location, design, layout and size of the proposed houses, it was not considered that there would be a significant harmful impact on private amenities deriving from the development. While accepting that the houses around the area of the proposed development currently back onto a vacant site, this was an infill site within the development boundary, and it was not considered unreasonable for development for housing.

 

In the context of transportation and access matters, it was highlighted that the Transportation Unit had highlighted concerns regarding the impact of the development on the safety and convenience of the nearby roads network, as well as defects in the design of the estate's internal roads. Additional information was provided by the applicant showing amendments to the footways within the site and proposals for traffic calming measures.

 

Although there were some positive features to the plan submitted, it was not possible to recommend approving the application due to the failure to meet the LDP's TAI policies and the potential harmful impact of the development on the Welsh language in the community.

 

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

·         That the houses were to be built on a previously developed site

·         That 2 affordable houses and 5 open market houses that were a part of the application reflected the local need - affordable housing were not a part of the previous application

·         That Policy TAI15 requested 10% affordable housing - this application offered more than that

·         Evidence highlighted that developing the site as 100% affordable housing was not viable, therefore, open market housing would have to be built

·         That the Gwynedd Local Market Housing Assessment 2018-2023 acknowledged the need for housing and that the proposal met that

·         That the developer offered a local marketing strategy - local people would have first refusal

·         That an effort was being made to look for local families

·         That the developer committed to ensure houses as a home only, and not as holiday homes and second homes

 

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

·         That a small, modest Church was located on this small, half-acre site

·         The site was unsuitable for 7 substantial houses with a garden, garage and parking spaces

·         The Transportation Unit highlighted that there would only be one access to the site and that this was unsuitable

·         That the access was too narrow - only enabled one vehicle at a time. There was no space to widen the access and it was not suitable as it was for a fire engine or refuse vehicle

·         It would create a negative impact on the amenities of neighbouring houses

·         The development added to traffic problems in front of the Primary School

·         The development would cross a public footpath - that the Council had an open application regarding having better use of the pubic footpath

·         There were too many holiday homes and open market houses in Morfa Nefyn - only affordable houses were needed

·         That the application was an over-development - contrary to Policy TAI17 and TAI4

·         That local residents were against the application - the prices of the houses were beyond the reach of local people

·         Did not want to see a cul-de-sac that was empty for half of the year

·         Accepted that there was a local demand for housing but not for this price (£500,000) - there were at least 15 houses for sale in the village that were beyond the reach of locals

·         That the previous application for 6 houses had been refused by the Committee and on appeal - this was the same application again, with one of the houses converted into two.

·         The Committee was encouraged to support the recommendation of the officers and Community Council to refuse the application

 

ch) It was proposed and seconded to refuse the application in accordance with the recommendation

 

d)    In response to a question regarding ensuring the suitability of the road leading to the site for utilities, the Planning Manager noted that this was subject to the principle of adopting the road.  He reiterated that it would be unlikely that the road leading to this site would be adopted and that this had been a part of the initial refusal (although the appeal inspector had disagreed with this principle). In response to a supplementary question regarding the necessity to adopt the road if the application was for 5 or more houses, the Monitoring Officer noted that there was no obligation to adopt the road and that the observations of the Transportation Unit were in response to the propriety of this specific situation.

 

              RESOLVED: To refuse – Reasons

 

1.    The housing provision in Morfa Nefyn is already significantly higher than the provision set by the Joint Local Development Plan, and therefore it is not believed that the proposal would meet the recognised local need for housing. As a result, the development would lead to an over-provision of open market housing in the community, which is contrary to the requirements of policy TAI 4 of the LDP and the settlement strategy included in policy PS 17.

 

2.    Due to the potential market value of the proposed units for affordable homes, it is not possible to ensure that these units would remain affordable in order to meet the needs of the local community in the long-term and, therefore, the application is contrary to the requirements of Policy TAI 15 of the LDP.

 

3.    Based on the submitted information in the Linguistic Statement, the Local Planning Authority has not been convinced that the development would not cause significant harm to the character and balance of the Welsh language in the community and, therefore, the application is contrary to the requirements of policy PS 1 of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan.