Petition launched in bid to protect Penyffordd sledging field from development

A petition has been launched in a bid to protect a field popular for sledging during the winter from being developed.

Villagers in Penyffordd have been involved in a long-running battle to stop land at Vounog Hill from being converted into housing.

Flintshire Council’s planning committee rejected proposals to create 37 homes on the site in 2019, but an appeal launched by the company behind the scheme is still waiting to be heard.

Penyffordd councillor David Williams has now created a petition to ask for the field to be designated as green barrier land in the county’s Local Development Plan (LDP) to prevent it from being built on.

It follows anger over permission for more than 260 new houses being granted in the area in recent years as a result of appeals to the Planning Inspectorate.

In a post on the Penyffordd Community Council Facebook page, Cllr Williams said: “The purpose of this petition is to demonstrate the general discontent of most village residents, about the amount of houses that have been built in the village, and that we have provided more than our fair share of housing for Flintshire over the past five to ten years.

“This concern is also shared by many who have just moved here.

“It is now broadly felt that we deserve to remain an established village where our country surroundings and important farm land is protected long term.

“We also want to demonstrate what an important amenity the land on the edge of the village is as a winter recreation on the Vounog, and retain what is left of our country setting that is important for the health and wellbeing of residents.”

A public inquiry over the Tevir Group’s plans to build houses at Vounog Hill was due to be held last April.

However, it was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, with a new date yet to be scheduled.

A separate inquiry on Flintshire’s LDP, which sets out locations for around 7,000 new homes in the county, gets under way next month.

The petition can be accessed by visiting www.cognitoforms.com/CascadeProductionsIntlLtd/VillagePetitionSupportForTheRepresentationByPenyfforddCommunityCouncil

Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).