Agenda item

Demolish the old library and build three new intermediate affordable houses

Local Member: Councillor Kim Jones

Link to relevant background documents

DECISION: To defer in order to conduct a site visit

Demolition of former library and construction of three new intermediate affordable dwellings.

a)      The Senior Development Control Officer highlighted that this was a full application for the demolition of the former Llanberis library and the construction of three new 'intermediate' affordable dwellings in its place (two 2-bedroom semi-detached dwellings and one 3-bedroom detached dwelling). The library was closed in 2017 and the site, which was within the residential area of the Llanberis Local Service Centre as defined in the LDP, had been dormant since. The site was served by Capel Coch Road, which also served Dolbadarn primary school. Reference was made to the footbridge over Afon Coch river towards the rear of the site, which connected with Glanrafon Estate – over the past few years flood alleviation work had been completed on the riverbanks because of significant flooding in 2012.

This was a development by Cyngor Gwynedd as part of the 'Tŷ Gwynedd' scheme and the houses will be offered to buy or rent for an affordable price to local people.

Attention was drawn to the number of objections to the plan because parking issues already existed on Ffordd Capel Coch which caused ill-feeling amongst residents, and there was concern that the construction of three dwellings at this location would exacerbate the situation. In addition, there was concern regarding the hazard to street users, including children who attended the nearby school, due to the increase in traffic.

Despite the concerns, the Transportation Unit had no objection to the proposal in principle although they had noted that they would not support the creation of on-street parking spaces. The officer stated that there was a private parking space for each new property in the plans and that space would remain for three cars to park on the road in front of the development. It was added that until recently, the site had been a public library that attracted traffic itself.  Consequently, it was not considered that the development itself would exacerbate the on-street parking situation compared to what could be the case under the site's current lawful planning use. Similarly, it was not considered that the traffic caused by three dwellings would cause a greater risk to street users than the former library.

In the context of flooding concerns, a Flood Consequence Assessment (FCA) had been submitted with the application in response to initial observations from Natural Resources Wales (NRW). It was noted that the findings of the Flood Consequence Assessment and the modelling process that was followed confirmed that the development would comply with the requirements of the current TAN 15, specifically the criteria set by Appendix 1 of the TAN. In addition, the FCA proposed a series of alleviation measures to improve the resilience of the development to flooding. As a result, the proposal was considered acceptable based on the ability to manage flood risk to the occupiers of the proposed dwellings, and that it would not cause added risk in other places. It was therefore considered that the application complied with the requirements of Policies PS 5 and PS 6 and the content of the current TAN 15:  Development and Flood Risk (2004).

In the context of the specialist information submitted regarding the flood risk, it was accepted that this development would not exacerbate the situation in terms of material planning matters compared with what could occur under the site's present lawful planning use. Indeed, it was considered that the proposal might offer an opportunity to improve the site's resilience to flood risk and introduce improvements in terms of matters such as visual amenities and biodiversity. It was noted that the proposal offered the opportunity to create affordable housing for local people on a brownfield site within the development boundary; it was an acceptable plan in principle, and it complied with relevant local and national planning policies.

b)    Taking advantage of the right to speak, the Local Member made the following observations:

·         She was supportive of an application for affordable housing because of the housing crisis for local people, although the site in question was unsuitable

·         There was a significant lack of parking in the village – there were tensions between local residents / occupiers of second home / Airbnb sites regarding the shortage of parking spaces.

·         If the houses were built, where would people park? Some occupiers were elderly, lack of mobility – this had not been considered.

·         Local police officers were called out regularly to deal with matters of illegal parking

·         The scheme meant the loss of parking spaces that would lead to complete disarray

·         The road also led to a busy farm

·         She accepted that there was a shortage of houses, but the location was unsuitable

·         Was it possible to consider turning the old library into a car park – this would alleviate the problem?

c)    It was proposed and seconded to conduct a site visit to assess the context of the site

ch) During the ensuing discussion, the following observations were made by   Members:

·         Needed to consider the Community Council's concerns regarding parking

·         It was suggested that three dwellings be erected instead of two, which would release parking space

·         It would be irresponsible not to respond to the village's parking problems

·         The proximity of the site to the river needed to be considered

            RESOLVED to defer to conduct a site visit