Emergency accommodation plan back before Flintshire planners
A planning application to use caravans at the Old Tavern site in Mostyn as emergency accommodation has been resubmitted to Flintshire County Council, following a refusal late last year.
The new application seeks retrospective permission for the residential use of 57 static units at the Old Tavern, Mostyn, Holywell.
The site lies in open countryside and falls within the Mostyn ward and Mostyn Community Council area.
The proposal is a resubmission of application which was refused by council officers in December 2025.
That earlier application sought permission to vary a condition attached to an existing consent for holiday accommodation, in order to allow the units to be used for emergency residential housing.
In refusing the earlier scheme, planning officers concluded that residential use of the caravans was contrary to national and local planning policy, including Planning Policy Wales, Technical Advice Note 6 and Flintshire’s Local Development Plan.
The site is located outside any defined settlement boundary, where new residential development is tightly restricted.
Officers also noted that Flintshire County Council’s Housing Support and Homelessness service had withdrawn from using the site, stating there was no longer a need for emergency accommodation there.
Families previously placed on the site by the council were relocated elsewhere, although some caravans were understood to be privately occupied.
During consultations on the refused application, Mostyn Community Council raised concerns about the suitability of caravans for people facing homelessness, the concentration of caravans in a small area, pressure on local services, limited public transport and increased traffic.
Highways officers had raised issues over discrepancies between the submitted site layout and the original approved scheme, while advising that there would be no objection in principle if highway conditions were met.
Natural Resources Wales and Welsh Water raised no objection, subject to drainage conditions being reinstated.
The Old Tavern site has a long planning history. Permission was first granted in 2018 for use as a touring caravan and tent site.
A subsequent application to replace touring caravans with static holiday caravans was approved in July 2024.
When the original caravan park proposals were approved, councillors were told the development would help secure the future of the Old Tavern, a Grade II listed building believed to date back to the 17th century.
At the time, the site’s owners said income from tourism would support restoration of the pub and help protect it as a community asset.
The newly submitted application will now be assessed against planning policy and any changes made since the previous refusal, before returning to Flintshire County Council for a decision.
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