130 home Croes Atti plan recommended for approval despite concerns
A 130-home development on farmland at Croes Atti in Flint has been recommended for approval by Flintshire planning officers.
The application, by housing developer Anwyl, was submitted in April and would see part of the former Coed Onn Farm – including an existing play area – behind the new Croes Atti School on Ffordd Dewi redeveloped.
Officers have recommended the site – which will be 100% affordable homes – be approved despite not being within the authority’s Local Development Plan.
But almost 50 residents have lodged objections to the scheme, citing flooding and traffic concerns in the area as well as existing unfinished developments in the same area.
One resident said: “The estate is getting far to overcrowded for the amenities provided.
“There is a big issue with flooding that another 130 houses can only contribute too. Please do not approve this planning application so that the estate can actually be finished to a higher standard.”
Another resident added: “The estate is now over-built. It cannot sustain any further properties. The council cannot sustain any of the services either.
“The traffic is horrendous every single day, especially in the summer. The roads cannot support the seasonal traffic, adding houses will make living and commuting unbearable.
“The flooding on the estate will get worse regardless of soakaways put in. The roads are filled with parked cars night and day as Anwyl have made the roads narrow and winding.
“The traffic jams and flooding are horrendous. Please do not approve this application. I’ll have to sell my home if this goes through. This is the wrong place for 130 extra houses. The council need to explore other options and just not keep approving applications for Oakenholt. Enough is enough.”
Another claimed the proposal would impact on local health services.
“As a resident of the Croes Atti development, I would like to formally object to any more housing being built onto this estate,” they said.
“We do not currently have the facilities to cope with a development of this size for the town – shops, a community centre, post boxes. We do not have a doctor’s surgery on the estate and the surgeries in Flint are overflowing. It is horrendous trying to get an appointment.
“By adding more housing they would simply be adding to the surface water run-off that we already cannot cope with. The roads at the top of the estate are also not complete yet which should be done before there is even a thought of more housing.”
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board admitted in its response that services were overstretched.
“Current clinical room capacity at some practices in the cluster are almost at a maximum with very little room for further expansion,” it wrote. “Lack of space within primary care premises may potentially affect future recruitment of additional staff.
“Practices across Flintshire have seen a steady increase in patient numbers over the last few years as a result of new housing developments and new patients moving into the area. Concerns are shared across practices, who anticipate overstretching capacity to cater for new patients, which could affect both the health and wellbeing of existing GPs and their staff, resulting in a sustainability risk.”
Despite this BCUHB made no recommendation that the development should include new health facilities.
Even Hannah Blythyn MS for Delyn has made representations on behalf of residents.
“The proposal has raised significant concern within the local community with residents in both Oakenholt and Flint expressing their apprehension and concern,” she said.
“Whilst affordable housing is a requisite in all urban areas, they have significant concerns in relation to the chosen location and size of the
development.
They highlight the fact that the area is already susceptible to extensive flooding – an assertion that is supported by a long chronology of past events and corroborated via National Resources Wales’ ‘planning maps.
“Despite those concerns, the application appears to have given no cognisance to that impact, instead seeking to provide assurances in respect of the low flood risk to the new development.
“There are also further questions raised in relation to the location, which sits upon agricultural fields outside of the local development plan whilst other undeveloped sites, including brownfield sites within the settlement boundary, remain untouched.
“In addition, the development lacks any consideration for sustainable growth within the local community and infrastructure; whilst it will significantly increase the local population, it provides no solutions to the existing demands faced by local services and the local road network; instead merely seeking to dismiss any impact upon them as being of negligible value, which is simply not the case.”
Local county councillor Mel Buckley and Flint Town Council have also objected to the plans.
Despite the weight of objections, planning officers have recommended approval.
“The proposed development will provide affordable housing in an area where there is an evidenced need,” they concluded in their report.
“There are significant constraints associated with this site, including flood risk and ecology, and but the applicant has addressed all of these matters appropriately and acceptably. Accordingly, it is recommended that members endorse the recommendation.”
Flintshire’s Planning Committee will rule on the application on Wednesday.
By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter
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