Plans for large housing development alongside A494 in Ewloe look set to be refused

Plans for a large-scale ‘affordable’ housing development alongside A494 in Deeside have been recommended for refusal due to concerns over the loss of high-quality agricultural land.

Proposals to build 130 homes on a piece of land adjacent to Liverpool Road in Ewloe were initially submitted to Flintshire council in April 2021

Warrington based Lane End Developments wants to build 43 three-bed houses, 52 two-bed houses, six 4 bed houses, 11 bungalows and 18 apartments on the 8.3-hectare greenfield site which has historically been used for “agricultural purposes.”

A total of 36 objections were received in relation to the proposals, they ranged from concerns over insufficient local infrastructure, flooding, noise pollution, the development’s proximity to a landfill site. The lack of local transport and the traffic impact on St David’s roundabout was also cited.

Natural Resources Wales said it has “significant concerns” with the proposed development relating to protected species, biosecurity and land contamination.

According to a report by Flintshire Council’s Chief Planning Officer Andrew Farrow, the main issues he lists include, “the potential loss of agricultural land, the impact of the development upon the trunk road (A494), and upon neighbouring amenity and the character of the area.”

The site was a candidate site for the council’s Local Development Plan (LDP), a blueprint which sets out where around 7,000 houses could be built in Flintshire over the next decade.

However at the time, it was considered that the proposal was “not a viable or suitable prospect despite the fact that it wasn’t in the Green Barrier, but white land outside the settlement boundary.”

When the Local Planning Authority published the Deposit LDP, which included the land as a candidate site, Flintshire council said that: ‘Despite the urban context for the site, it has the character and appearance of a swathe of open countryside between existing ribbon development and the A494(T).”

“There are concerns about accessing the whole of the site and uncertainty also exists in terms of the multiple ownerships of the site and possible implications for delivery.”

“Welsh Government has now announced its intention with regards to a new link road to the A55, rather than improvements to the A494(T).”

“Nevertheless, it is unclear whether land will still need to be safeguarded for any future road improvements.”

“In this context it would be prudent to retain the site as a future option, rather than seeking small piecemeal developments’.”

In his report, which will go before a planning committee next week, Mr Farrow said: “Whilst the application has been advanced on the grounds of its affordable housing credentials linked to local need, the lack of a housing land supply and the broadly sustainable nature of the location on the edge of a settlement of Category B in the Flintshire Unitary Development Plan, there are fundamental matters of principle that the proposal fails to comply with.”

“Principally this is the unjustified loss of high-quality agricultural land as a result of the development, as well as the loss of an area of open countryside, with resultant detrimental impacts upon the character and appearance of the area, contrary to the general development principles of the development plan.”

“There are also concerns over a number of smaller technical issues. Given the above I consider that the proposal represents inappropriate development in an open countryside location that would unacceptably harm the character and appearance of the area as well as result in the loss of high-quality agricultural land, contrary to the relevant policies in the Flintshire Unitary Development Plan, and I recommend accordingly.”

The application will be considered by councillors at a meeting on Wednesday, October 26, 2022.