Housing plans for fire hit Shotton social club site unanimously approved

A housing development has been given the go ahead on the site of a social club in Shotton which was destroyed by fire.

Shotton Lane Social Club was devastated by a large blaze in 2011 and the area surrounding it has remained derelict ever since.

However, new life looks set to be breathed into it after proposals for 14 new homes were approved unanimously by Flintshire Council’s planning committee yesterday.

Ahead of the meeting, some community leaders and residents expressed concerns about parking and traffic issues if the scheme was allowed to go ahead.

But the application was recommended to be granted by the authority’s chief planning officer, who said such issues would be dealt with at a later stage.

Andrew Farrow said the highway authority had no objections to the plans subject to conditions being put in place.

In a report to the committee, he said: “The principle of creating a new access off Shotton Lane is not opposed.

“The highway authority therefore confirms that there is no objection subject to the imposition of conditions.

“Furthermore, I have considered the merits of the site location and conclude that the site is well positioned and supports the key planning principles set out in Planning Policy Wales.

“Sustainable forms of development such as this, help to reduce the reliance on travel by private car, and the adverse impacts of motorised transport on the environment and people’s health.”

According to the document, a total of eight objections were submitted by residents worried about the increase in traffic, insufficient parking and difficulty for emergency services in accessing the site.
However, the proposals were unanimously backed by the committee.

The club originally closed in August 2010 and had been earmarked to become an Islamic cultural centre, but those plans did not move forward after the suspected arson attack.

Firefighters spent six hours tackling the blaze and more than 100 people were evacuated.

Approval for the homes was given subject to the developer entering a legal agreement to pay £1,100 per property towards improving play facilities in Shotton.

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).