Gwernymynydd housing plans rejected amid road safety concerns

Plans to create almost 30 new homes in a Flintshire village have been rejected amid concerns over road safety.

Councillors met this week to discuss an application to develop a plot of land known as Llys Newydd in Gwernymynydd, near Mold.

The owners of the site, which is close to the village’s war memorial, said allowing the 28 properties to be built would help to meet the demand for housing in the county.

However, fears were raised over how it would impact on the A494, with a access point proposed to serve the development off the busy trunk road.

Victoria Norman, a community councillor who lives near the site, told Wednesday’s (October 27, 2021) planning committee meeting there were already major safety issues on the route.

She said: “The community is really upset and stressed about this because the road is really fast and really dangerous.

“To put another junction back out onto that road is just going to create even more problems with the wagons that are speeding up or down that road.

“I don’t think for one minute that a wagon would be able to stop safely if a car pulled out in front of them onto that main road.”

A total of 22 letters of objection were received from villagers objecting to the proposals, which were submitted in December 2019.

The impact on the countryside was also highlighted as an issue by Flintshire Council’s chief planning officer, as well as the site’s proximity to the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Cilcain councillor Owen Thomas was among those who opposed the application at the meeting.

He said: “I’m very familiar with this area and we do know that this road is a very busy road and a dangerous road.

“It’s a main road from Denbighshire and the Ruthin area, which has a number of industrial estates where lorries come from.”

A planning agent acting on behalf of the site’s owners had claimed there was a shortfall of housing in the county which needed to be addressed.

However, the argument was dismissed by committee members.

Cllr Chris Bithell, cabinet member for planning said: “It is a proposal to build in open countryside, which is in fact contrary to both local and national planning policies and should therefore be refused on those grounds alone.

“In addition, there are concerns regarding the access onto the A494 trunk road and also the internal road system.

“There’s no provision in the application for any affordable housing, which we would require in terms of our policies.

“It’s also considered inappropriate given the close proximity of the area of outstanding natural beauty and for all these reasons I think we should refuse the application.”

Permission for the proposals was unanimously refused at the end of the debate.

Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).