Update 5 - Other News - Good and Bad

Community Transport

Flintshire have consulted on community transport plans and Penyffordd is part of a new trial to run two services, a regular minibus service to connect with the 'hub' in Buckley and a dial-on-demand taxi service to allow access to medical services etc.

One of the unintended consequences of the trial was the building of new bus shelters. There was no need for a planning application because Streetscene (Flintshire County Council) are allowed to build anything (up to 4 metres high) on the streets without going through planning. So there was the bizarre situation where a bus shelter was being built at the end of Wellhouse Drive next to the site of the new noticeboard (not yet erected) which had to have planning permission.

The site of the bus shelter on Wellhouse made no sense to anyone and the residents affects were particularly unhappy - they complained to Cllr Cindy Hinds, this group did the same and to be fair to Cindy and Streetscene, common sense prevailed. The work was suspended. A site meeting held, everyone involved walked the village and agreed a new, less disruptive plan. The site on Wellhouse has now been returned to pavement, albeit with a bus stop shaped piece of new tarmac.

Bus Services

The other part of the community transport consultation involved the Arriva bus services. Apparently too many of these services run empty and it is not economic. Consequently, from April there will be a service reduction from 30 min to hourly services. This will have a negative impact on a number of villagers, particularly commuters. We suggest writing to Flintshire and Arriva if you are affected. We have published the new timetable already on this site.

Hanson Cement

A preliminary application has been made for the replacement of some of the mills at the cement factory. The application details are in this document, the content of which is very technical. The intention is to increase capacity and the implication is that the newer technology will make the process more environmentally friendly. There is also the proposal to use the existing railhead to ship finished or milled product out of the factory - at the moment it is only used for occasional deliveries of coal. There is not indication of the frequency of these services.

We have written to the Plant Manager and he has agreed to meet the group in April to explain the plans in more detail. Once we have that meeting in the diary we will provide updates.

Noticeboards

One of the things that came out of the Questionnaire was the need for more information, accessible to all. The noticeboard attached to Jemoleys was out of commission for some time because the key was lost when the Post Office closed. That has been sorted out now and planning approval has been given for a new community noticeboard to be sited next to the post box at the end of Wellhouse Drive. The community council and community group will be posting updates in there once it is erected.

Community Development Plan

A huge amount of work is going on in the background to write and prepare plan for the community - this is not just about house building, it is about trying to consider all the things that we can do to protect and enhance our community in the next 10 - 15 years including transport, environment, community facilities, economy and development. We are using the data and comments from the questionnaire as the basis of the document, researching the history and context of the facilities and clubs we have in the village and aiming to create something that the community can be proud of.

We will be asking the village to consult on the document in the coming months. If you are active in any groups, clubs or societies in the village in the meantime, please get in touch and tell us how you would improve the community. 

Public Consultations

There are two public consultations ongoing at the moment that you may like to comment on:

Wellbeing of Flintshire
http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/Resident/Council-and-Democracy/Flintshire-Public-Services-Board.aspx

This is a genuinely well written and interesting assessment of living in Flintshire today - it draws together data and information from many sources to represent a view of the county now. It is to do with the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act.

The section on housing is of particular interest because it describes exactly what is happening to us right now, with speculative housing developments - please go online and let them know that you agree with the description of the housing situation and the harm that is being caused to the wellbeing of the community through overdevelopment.

Deadline is Friday 31st March 2017.

A494 Consultation
If you use the roads in the area, then you may want to comment on the options to either widen the road on Aston Hill or connect the Flint bridge with the A55. The document is available online and the deadline is the 5th June 2017.

Update 4 - Hawarden Road - Bad News

As expected, the plan to build 32 houses on Hawarden Road, opposite Famau View (near the Spar) has now been submitted to planning. The planning reference number is: 056694.

At the moment the officers are considering the application and the details are not yet visible to us and it is not open for comments. We will post updates as soon as it the consultation period opens.

Update 3 - TAN1 - More Good News?

March 22nd is the next Flintshire Planning Committee - the Redrow Chester Road application will not be heard there, but another application in Northop for 90 houses will be.

This is significant for us because it is the first application (that we know of) in Flintshire where the Planning Officers have recommended refusal largely because they believe their own policies (UDP) outweigh the presumption in favour of development.

The clarification of the meaning behind the wording of TAN1 (see Update 2) appears to have empowered the Planning Officers to recommend refusal. This is exactly what we have been seeking in the Redrow Chester Road application and will be seeking in the forthcoming Hawarden Road application - developments outside the boundary are breaking a number of UDP policies and should be refused.

You can read more about the Northop application here.

Update 2 - TAN1 - Good News?

Anyone who has attended the public meetings in the village or followed the updates on planning applications affecting the village, will know that the reason that developers are able to submit applications on fields outside the village is because of a 'loophole'. The loophole is still there, but it has been made a little smaller following clarification from the Welsh Minister responsible.

Quick summary of the loophole: Planning Policy Wales (PPW) requires every local authority to have a Local 'plan' Flintshire's Unitary Development Plan (UDP) ran up to 2015. Their new Local Development Plan (LDP) won't be ready until late 2019. In the absence of a plan, there is a Technical Advice Note (TAN1) in PPW which assumes in favour of development. TAN1 has been used repeatedly to get applications through that would otherwise be refused.

The wording of TAN1 leaves it open to interpretation and we have been campaigning to have it changed. We have met with Mark Tami MP and he has written on our behalf, we have met with Flintshire Planning Officers and they have written their own documents requesting changes, we have met with Carl Sargeant AM, our Assembly Member and he has written on our behalf. And we have repeatedly written to Lesley Griffith AC/AM, the minister responsible and to the First Minister requesting changes. 

We have now received a number of responses regarding the same action.

The Welsh Minister has written to all of the Heads of Planning in Wales: http://gov.wales/docs/desh/publications/170223delivery-of-affordable-housing-through-the-planning-system-en.pdf

We have received similar wording directly from the minister:

So in summary, nothing in the policy wording has changed. There is pressure on local authorities to build houses, particularly affordable homes, BUT for the first time this additional wording has been used in all of the correspondence

"this includes ensuring development proposals do not lead to unacceptable impacts on local economic, social and environment infrastructure."

This gives us cause to be optimistic, given the weight of evidence submitted from the village about the harm being cause by rapid overdevelopment.

Update 1 - Council Houses - Good News?

Since the public meeting on the 8th March, a number of things have happened in the village and the campaign to save the village. 

You may have seen news articles about Flintshire planning to build 300 new council houses in 11 locations. One of the locations referred to was in Penyffordd. The council papers suggested that there would be housing on land behind West View between the children's play space and the bypass. We wrote to Clare Budden, Chief Office Community & Enterprise at FCC and expressed concern that the land was outside the settlement boundary and that the view of the villagers, through the Questionnaire, was for no more housing right now. This was the response we received:

"I apologise for the concern we may have created here.

The Cabinet report had an error in drafting which we corrected at the meeting. The map included with reference to a site in Penyffordd, was not consistent with the site referred to in the body of the report and we therefore asked Cabinet to ignore these references.

We are considering some options for a small number of affordable and social homes in the village, within the settlement boundary and I have asked Mel Evans who is our lead for the programme to make contact with you to share our current thinking. Any specific schemes developed to the final stage will require Cabinet approval later in the year and will have been the subject of community consultation ahead of that so that cabinet can make an informed decision."

At this stage we don't know which sites they are considered for new council houses (we understand that the old Dobshill Depot is potentially one), but the land at Westview is not currently being considered and we are reassured that there will be public consultation first.

New No3 Bus Timetable

This is the new bus timetable active from 9th April 2017 until further notice.

Download it here

Community Transport Update

This is what Cllr Cindy Hinds are written about the new Community Transport Service:

"After extensive consultation with residents, Flintshire County Council, in conjunction with Penyffordd and Penymynydd District Community Council, will be launching a new Taxi-bus service which will soon be in operation running through Penyffordd, Penymynydd and Dobshill to Buckley. The taxi-bus will operate as an 8-seater minibus. This will run along a fixed route and timetable, enabling residents from these areas to access and connect with key services to Buckley. Concessionary passes can be used on the service. The service will compliment the existing bus services and will help fill the gaps in our current network. Route details and timetables in this area will be confirmed in the coming weeks, followed by a campaign to ensure all residents know about the service being provided. In addition to this, new bus infrastructure will be provided along the route which will include new shelters, lighting, footway improvements, information points etc."

Following resident and group complaints about the siting of new Community Transport bus stops, this week Cllr Cindy Hinds met with residents, contractors and the Flintshire County Council Streetscene team to review the plans. The decided to use the existing bus shelter opposite St Johns' Church, erect a new bus stop (with flag not shelter) on Penymynydd Road, close to Bilberry Close, and erect a new shelter on Wats Road - the nearby old bus shelter is being removed and replaced with a bus stop with flag, there is a shelter being erected on New Road, Dobshill. The work on Wellhouse Drive has stopped and there will be no bus stop there.

In addition to this service, there will be a demand responsive transport service operating as a 'ring and ride' for people who are unable to access or use conventional public transport to access medical appointments etc. 

Public Meeting - Update and Actions

We had a good meeting last night, thank you to the 150 or so people who attended and for some very useful questions and information.

At the meeting we covered these key points:
- Questionnaire feedback
- Update on the Community Development Plan progress
- Update on Hawarden Road and Rhos Road developments
(nothing we can do officially until they are submitted to planning)
- Update on Redrow:
It is open for official comments until Monday the 13th March. The quickest way is on the Flintshire Planning Portal:
https://digital.flintshire.gov.uk/FCC_Planning/Home/Details?refno=055590

These are some of the reasons we have used to object - ideally you should refer to personal harm and impact. You can also quote planning policies - there is a list here.

“REDROW DEADLINE FOR OBJECTIONS IS MONDAY 13th MARCH 2017”

1. Loss of Village
2. Pace of Change
3. Rail Transport
4. Buses
5. Surrounding Road Network
6. Roads in the Development
7. Potholes
8. Traffic Impact inside the Village
9. Lack of School Places
10. Broadband Provision
11. Open Space
12. Waste
13. Surface Waste
14. Water
15. Affordable Housing
16. Heathcare

We would encourage people to write to the Cabinet minister for housing, Lesley Griffiths AC/AM and to our own representative in Cardiff, Carl Sargeant AM to ask for their help in protecting us against overdevelopment while the Flintshire Local Plan is in preparation.

Finally, we introduced the 'Assessment of Wellbeing in Flintshire', this document covers every aspect of life in Flintshire and they are consulting until the 31st March. This document is very interesting, well written and informative - it contains an explanation of what is happening to housing which is consistent with what we are experiencing - it would be good to feedback to them the harm being caused by overdevelopment. You can view the documents online here:

http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/Resident/Council-and-Democracy/Flintshire-Public-Services-Board.aspx

Thank you for the continued support - we feel like we are presenting a strong community voice and it is being heard.

Public Meeting - Please Let People Know

We are holding a public meeting on Wednesday 8th March at 7:00pm at the Legion. We are inviting the press and local politicians to attend.

We are publicising the meeting on this website and on Facebook and we have a poster in the Community Council noticeboard - but we need help to spread the word to people in the village who do not have access to the internet.

Please can you print this poster and put it in your window.

We will be sharing the Questionnaire results, updating on the planning applications for Chester Road, Rhos Road and Hawarden Road. We will also have an updated on the Community Transport Bus Stops currently under construction on Wellhouse Drive and Wats Road.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you there.

Redrow - You need to be Heard!

So last week Redrow submitted a new plan for Chester Road. You might have received or seen a letter from Flintshire County Council about the process.

The letter explains that if you have written an objection already, then that objection will be considered by the planners and committee as long as the reason is still valid after the changes. The wording of the letter suggests that if you send a new objection now, then the old one will be discarded.

So the first thing is to know what has changed:

DESIGN AND LAYOUT
There are different house types and details, but they do not significantly change the application.

HOUSING
Now 186 houses (not 190)
Now 27 affordable homes - 15% (up from 19 / 10%)
Now 90 4-bedroom houses (down from 119)

ROADS
New road layout which leaves open the possibility of opening through to Hazel Drive or Kent Close (it was just Hazel Drive previously).

FOOTPATHS
The existing footpath off Hulley's Close is now more direct through the development.
A pedestrian access has been added through to both Hazel Drive and Kent Close.

BOUNDARY
New Boundary Fence. Now wire fencing.

PUBLIC OPEN SPACE
Reworked Public Open Space (POS) - which is slightly better for some of the existing houses affected but there does appear to be less of it overall in the revised plan.

WHAT NEXT?

If you have objected previously you can (and should) object again.
If you referred to any of the things that have changed, then you need to object again to be heard at all.

You are objecting to Flintshire County Council planning department - via their website ideally (the application number is 055590):

We also need to get noisy again and make sure that everyone involved knows how strongly we feel about it. These are the people involved:

The Planning Committee
They decide, by vote, whether to approve or reject an application. They are all elected councillors from across the county. They will come and visit the site the week before the committee date (which could be the 22nd March) - it is good to demonstrate when they come, to show how we feel about it. The committee are not our enemy, many of them sympathise with our position. You can (and should) write to them to tell them how you feel but they will not reply with their opinion because they are not allowed to.

The Planners
The planning department are professional planners who understand planning law and planning policy. They process planning applications, advise developers if any part of the application does not comply with policy or law. They make a recommendation to the Planning Committee about whether an application should be approved - but the committee does not have to follow their advice. The planning officer responsible for this application is Alan Wells. The two senior managers in the planning department who deal with applications and policy are Andy Roberts and Andrew Farrow. We strongly believe that they should be recommending refusal to the committee
- because with the growth the village has experienced in recent years makes more housing unsustainable
- because we believe that we are suffering 'displaced housing from Cheshire' and that the Unitary Development Plan has a policy to protect against that
- because we believe that Planning Policy Wales protects against 'Prematurity' where big decisions should be taken as part of the Local Development Plan process. The ultimate boss at Flintshire is Colin Everett the CEO. We have been making sure he knows how strongly we feel too.

Welsh Assembly Government
The minister responsible is Lesley Griffiths AM. It is clear that part of Planning Policy Wales, Technical Advice Note 1 (TAN1) is ambiguous and therefore open to abuse by developers seeking to build on the most lucrative land - this is one of those cases. Carl Sargeant AM is our representative in Cardiff, we have met with him and he has written to the Minister on our behalf to ask for clarification of TAN1. We need as many people as possible to write to the Assembly - this is very important.

IF the planning committee refuse the application or refer it to Cardiff, then an independent planning inspector will review the case and make a decision (as happened in Higher Kinnerton last month). They view the ` is isolation and consider all the evidence and objections before making a decision. 

Westminster Government
Planning is fully devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government so there is no direct role for our Westminster MP, Mark Tami MP, but we have met with him and he has also written to Lesley Griffiths AM on our behalf asking for a review of TAN1.

In summary, we need as many people to object as possible.

Object for planning reasons - see the list of policies here or read our original objections document.
Object noisily about the impact on the village, the services, the experience of living here, how it affect you personally and why you believe it is not sustainable.
Object about the direct impact on you if your property is a neighbour - not on loss of value or loss of view, but on privacy, being overlooked, noise or disturbance.
Do this on the Flintshire Planning portal.

Then write to all of the planning committee - don't be abusive - they are decision makers, doing their job and are not our enemy.
Write to the planning officers and let them know how you feel.
Write to Welsh Assembly government or Carwyn Jones, the first minister. 

We all need to get noisy right now!

OBJECTIONS DEADLINE IS MONDAY 13th MARCH
 

View fullsize

This shows the footpaths (red) and road layout

CHESTER ROAD TRAFFIC / ROAD SAFETY

You may have objected because of concerns over the safety and capacity of the junction at the top of Chester Road. Right now there are roadworks underway (due to be completed in 10 days) which we understand will bring safety improvements to the junction including lighting. The work is being paid for by the Welsh Government and the fact that it has started just as the Redrow amendments were submitted is unrelated but still relevant. 

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