Castle Green returns with revised 276-home plan for Ewloe site after refusal
Castle Green Homes has lodged a fresh planning application for the construction of 276 homes at a site in Ewloe.
The move follows the refusal earlier this year of a Castle Green Homes scheme for 315 homes on the same site.
The new application is for 39 fewer homes than the refused scheme.
The 10-hectare site sits on the north-western edge of Ewloe, between the B5125 Holywell Road and Green Lane, and is already allocated for housing in the Flintshire Local Development Plan (LDP).
The LDP included this site with an expected total of around 298 homes. The new application is for 22 fewer homes than that figure.
Detailed plans for the fresh applcation have yet to be uploaded to the council planning portal.
The previous application was refused by Flintshire County Council’s Planning Committee on three grounds. Planning officers had recommended that committee approve the scheme subject to conditions and developer payments.
The first refusal ground was the density and layout of the affordable housing element. Around 126 of the 315 homes in the refused scheme were classed as affordable. Most of those affordable homes were grouped together at one side of the site at a density of 42 homes per hectare.
The second ground was the diversion of footpath 144, which is specifically protected by the LDP.
The third covered a range of unresolved concerns about the wider scheme. These included the impact on the Queensferry Waste Water Treatment Plant, where Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water had previously raised capacity concerns, and pressure on doctors’ surgeries, dental services and schools in Ewloe and the surrounding area.
A revised drainage solution had been presented at the committee meeting that took the refusal decision. The pipework for that solution would have crossed the route of the HyNet carbon capture pipeline at Gladstone Way, which requires a 24-metre clearance corridor.
The developer payments attached to the refused scheme, known as Section 106 contributions, included £894,761 toward improvements at Ewloe Green CP School and £978,857 toward the expansion of Hawarden High School. The package also included two payments of £8,422.31 each toward changes to local road rules, one for double yellow lines around the proposed Green Lane junction, and one for a review of the existing speed limit on the B5125 Holywell Road.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which was consulted on the refused application, recommended green spaces, dropped kerbs, community food growing and electric vehicle charging points. It did not request a financial contribution toward GP, dental or other healthcare facilities for the new residents.
Following the refusal, Flintshire County Council’s Chief Officer for Place, David Fitzsimon, and Planning Committee chair, Cllr Richard Lloyd, confirmed they would be writing to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board about its approach to planning applications.
The health board had been criticised by members for recommending open green spaces and community orchards in response to housing applications, rather than requesting that developers contribute to the cost of new healthcare facilities for the additional residents.
Check live fuel prices near you before you set off.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email news (@) deeside.com
NEW: Add Deeside.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Latest News
