Buckley: 155 new home development plans lodged with Flintshire council

Plans to build 155 new homes in Buckley have been submitted to Flintshire Council.

Castle Green Homes has submitted the application to develop land north of Well Street in the town.

According to the applicants, 62 of the proposed houses would be classed as affordable homes.

The land has been allocated for development in Flintshire Council’s Local Development Plan (LDP) which was adopted earlier this year.

A design and access statement produced by Grimster Planning on behalf of Castle Green Homes gives a breakdown of the affordable property types proposed with the development;

16 one-bedroom walk-up apartments.
Two two-bedroom bungalows.
16 two-bedroom semi-detached properties.
18 three-bedroom semi-detached properties.
Nine three-bedroom detached properties.
One four-bedroom detached property.

A breakdown of the open market properties would be;

12 two-bedroom semi-detached properties.
32 three-bedroom semi-detached properties.
36 three-bedroom detached properties.
13 four-bedroom detached properties.

The design and access statement submitted with the application says: “The layout has been carefully designed to provide for the efficient use of the land to deliver 155 new homes.

“It is proposed that rear gardens and public open space will be provided along the northern boundary of the site to ‘soften’ the edge and provide as much separation as possible from the existing housing which lies adjacent, and rear gardens will also be provided along the eastern and south-western boundaries.

“This design approach is intended to purposely protect the residential amenity and privacy of future residents and importantly the occupants of the existing, adjoining dwellings to prevent issues of overbearing, overlooking, loss of privacy, and loss of residential amenity.

“To this end, the layout has respected the council’s required separation distances and has sought to avoid any issues of overlooking/loss of privacy consistent with the council’s spacing standards.”

According to the applicants the proposed development is not likely to cause the loss of any features of significant ecological value, or cause harm to any protected species.
The design and access statement also notes what the applicant perceives to be a change in demand from house buyers since the pandemic, with more people working from home now wanting an extra bedroom.

“The pandemic has triggered a significant shift in people’s housing/accommodation needs, with the requirement for extra space from which to work at home now a new and important consideration”, the statement adds.

“This includes additional space for a home office/study, which typically takes the form of an extra bedroom. Accordingly, those people previously seeking a two-bedroom property will now be seeking a three-bedroom property, and so forth, subject to availability and cost. It is therefore crucial that the housing market responds to these needs, both now and in the future.”

The statement adds: “The delivery of 155 new dwellings in Flintshire where there is an accepted need for new market and affordable housing in line with the adopted LDP housing trajectory.

“The proposed development will involve the development of land allocated for housing in the LDP, lying within the re-defined settlement limits of Buckley, the principle of which is established and supported by virtue of the site’s housing allocation.

“It will provide for a logical extension to the settlement of Buckley at its south-western edge.”

The application and a heritage impact assessment can be viewed in more detail on the planning section of Flintshire Council’s website.

Council planners will make a decision on the application at a future date.

By Rory Sheehan – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).

Section 48 Notice: Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project