If you were at the September village meeting then you know what's happening - if you missed it, this is a quick summary along with tips on how you can add your voice to make a difference. It is important that as many people as possible comment on applications because it is the sheer number of people involved in Penyffordd that is making the difference.
A great turnout for the 27th Sept public meeting
What is going on?
In short. The local authority has to make a plan to set out how many houses it needs in a 15 year period (2015-2030) and where it thinks they should be built. When they do that, it sets 'boundaries' around each settlement inside of which development is allowed.
Right now Flintshire don't have their new plan and Welsh Government policy allows developers to speculatively apply for planning permission for developments outside of the existing boundaries.
Because Penyffordd is such a great place to live - and crucially because it is so easy to get to Chester and beyond to work - it is easy to sell new houses here, so developers like it. This problem is likely to remain until the council adopts its new plan, expected in 2019.
Why are so many people objecting?
For reasons too dull to go into, the last plan covering 2000-2015 was only adopted in 2011. Penyffordd was allocated two sites for development in that plan - the Heritage site (White Lion) and the Groves (Wood Lane Farm). There is no problem with these sites themselves, the issue is that they were not expected or intended to be built all at once - they were supposed to represent 15 years of growth, but they were built within 5 years - over 300 homes added to a village of only 1,300 homes.
There are plans for another 300 more properties in the village.
These are the four current planning applications live right now - all of them are outside of our village boundary:
1. Rhos Road (North) for 40 houses
This one has already been given outline planning permission. The developer has now submitted the detail and we are asking Flintshire to make sure that the 40 houses proposed are built to fulfil the needs of the village and include a full mixture of houses and the correct proportion of affordable homes. Currently there are only 3 affordable homes shown on the plan - there should be 12, and the majority of houses (23) are 4-bedroom and the balance 3-bedroom.
Object Now on these points:
-Affordable homes should be 30%, of which at least 6 are 2 bedroom, in this development
- Mixture of houses - over 50% 4-bedroom and no 2-bedroom
-No primary school contribution and no school places
-Open space not adequate
-Provision of play space for the site
-No 3-storey houses in the village
-Drainage plan
The principle of development is has been approved on this one, so we can't object on settlement boundary, overdevelopment, prematurity or any of those other objections which apply with the other applications.
Ref: 057396 Deadline is passed but your objections will still be considered.
Write to: Head of Planning, Environment Directorate, County Hall, Mold, Flintshire, CH7 6NF.
Or Email: planningdc@flintshire.gov.uk
2. Rhos Road (South) for 36 retirement apartments
This is a proposed retirement development for over-55s. Residents would pay a monthly management fee to benefit from shared communal facilities. This type of development is a good solution for maintaining social connections for the elderly. However, there are issues with this one. It is specifically not including affordable properties - the implication is that those who can't afford to live here can move elsewhere. There is not enough parking, there are few public transport links, little access to medical care and it is some distance from the village shop and facilities.
Object on these grounds:
- outside of the settlement boundary
- premature
- overdevelopment of the settlement
- No affordable provision
- Social cohesion
- Lack of car parking
- disabled access to train station
- distance from village centre and facilities
- Not on a bus route
- No Healthcare facilities in the village
Ref: 057388 Deadline 6/10/17 - Comment Online:
https://digital.flintshire.gov.uk/FCC_Planning/Home/Details?refno=057388
Write to: Head of Planning, Environment Directorate, County Hall, Mold, Flintshire, CH7 6NF.
Or Email: planningdc@flintshire.gov.uk
3. Redrow Chester Road for 186 houses
This application was refused by committee in April and the appeal will be decided after a public inquiry which is happening in November (15th at the Legion). This development is pure profiteering by the developer - no attempt to address the needs of the village or respond to the village concerns - these are executive properties intended for commuters.
Flintshire County Council agree with our position on this application and have put significant resources into fighting the appeal. Feel free to get in touch with us if you would like to know more.
What you can do:
Attend the public inquiry - 15th November at the Legion - more details to follow.
Write to the Welsh Minister to let her know what is happening in Penyffordd and how it is changing: Correspondence.Lesley.Griffiths@gov.wales
4. Hawarden Road for 32 houses
This application was refused planning permission by the committee in September and has since been appealed. We don't know more yet. Flintshire planner didn't support us on this application (the committee did) because they viewed it in isolation and considered the size and mix of houses and affordable homes to be acceptable - we agree with that - but the site is outside of the boundary and the facilities in the village can't cope - there are no school places for example.
We are waiting for further updates on the appeal process.
Sign up to the Penyffordd Place Plan Now
Our best defence for future applications is to have our voice heard officially. If you haven't already signed the petition to have the Penyffordd Place Plan adopted by Flintshire County Council, please add your name now:
You can access the full Place Plan online here.