REDROW APPEAL!

As we expected, Redrow have appealed the planning committee decision to refuse their application.

It has been reported in the Evening Leader. 

The appeal is handled by the independent Planning Inspectorate, who wrote to us recently to remind us that they can only consider the evidence put before them. Our role, as a community, is to provide them with that evidence.

Redrow chose not to attend the planning committee, we will ensure that the village is fully represented in this appeal process.

Once we have details of the appeal timeline, we will post updates. In the meantime, if you have evidence of how you are being affected in the village - particularly with drains, water, internet, traffic, bus services, doctors etc. - please get in touch.

Thank you.

Hanson Cement Public Exhibition

The plans suggest a significant investment in a new mill, contained within a new building, and the removal of 3 of the 4 existing mills. An increase in production activity overall, a reduction in road traffic and an increase in rail traffic.

Hanson is holding public exhibitions to explain their expansion plans to local residents on Tuesday May 23 at Buckley Library and on Wednesday May 24 at Penyffordd British Legion Club, both 3.30pm to 7pm. 

 

Hawarden Road - TIME FOR ACTION

If it goes ahead it will be almost impossible to stop them developing the land linking the proposed site to the Groves development.

If it goes ahead it will be almost impossible to stop them developing the land linking the proposed site to the Groves development.

WE NEED HELP PLEASE!
DEADLINE FRIDAY 21st APRIL

We need as many people as possible to object to the next planning application for 32 houses on Hawarden Road - close to the Spar.

There is a real threat that this one will go through - when added to the 40 houses already approved on Rhos Road, that will be the same as adding another White Lion sized development to the village. It will also mean that the remaining fields of Wood Lane farm will be surrounded on 3 sides by houses and the 4th by the bypass - that land can hold 100 more houses!

There is a good chance that Flintshire Planners will support this one unless we can persuade them otherwise.!

Objecting is easy - all we need you to do is say that you object because (any one of more of these will do)...

- no more houses in Penyffordd,
- doctors appointments,
- traffic problems,
- only one shop
- outside the settlement boundary
- no school places etc.

You can do it online, it only takes a minute http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/dominoimgs/webcont/fssplaps.nsf/frmComments?OpenForm&ref=056694

or you can email
planningdc@flintshire.gov.uk quoting Ref 056694 Hawarden Road, Penyffordd.

The more people that do it, the more chance there is that we can persuade them to stop building here for now. Thank you!

We have prepared a huge document full of objections and evidence if you want to read it >>>

 

 

Why 'Save our Village'? Don't we need houses?

So this is a question that comes up now and again.

This is why there has been a lot of opposition to the Redrow Chester Road application...

1. The Village Infrastructure can't cope
Depending on where you live in the village, you will suffer from low water pressure, overflowing drains, slow internet, traffic congestion, Spar car parking and other problems. The pipework in Penymynydd was designed for a couple of dozen houses, not hundreds. The infrastructure hasn't kept up. Investment is needed.

2. Community Spirit is at risk
This is difficult to define, but lots of people who have lived in the village for a long time believe that the community spirit is disappearing. This village is an amazing example of what everyone would look for in a community. It is safe (relatively), quiet, close to everything you could wish for, you can ask for help from neighbours, there are clubs, societies and well attended public events. The pubs and shops are thriving.

The village is alive and healthy - mostly. But it is wilting under the strain of recent development. As welcome as new residents are to the community, it is difficult for them to integrate into the community when they can't get their children into the village schools and the new developments are bolted on in one quick development - over 350 houses and 1,000 people in 5 years or less. The new school is planned for 2019 and will increase the number of places to hopefully accommodate all the children in the village TODAY - it will not significantly increase capacity beyond that.

Illustration of how the village has grown in past developments - we all live in somewhere new at sometime!

3. But we need houses!
It is true that there is a need for some new housing for people to move within the village - for the young to get their first home and for others to downsize or upsize. Planning permission has already been granted for 40 more houses on Rhos Road and also 5 houses on Melrose Close. The council are planning new affordable homes in Dobshill and a small number in Penyffordd and the new school will release some land on Penymynydd road.

Flintshire has a wait list for affordable homes, but the forecast population growth is only 3% - Penyffordd has grown 29% in less than 10 years. The Redrow proposal is nothing to do with housing need, this isn't London.

4. The Principle - it is wrong
The biggest one - the principle of development. It is only possible for this application to even be considered because of a loophole. Welsh planning policy is based on a 'local plan'. The local plan defines how many houses are needed over 15 years and how they should be distributed across all the settlements in Flintshire. At the moment there is no plan, so developers can pick any land and try and get permission to build. They choose the prime sites (like the one in Higher Kinnerton and Chester Road) and use the lack of a plan as a reason to build. It's a loophole and it's wrong. This is the countryside, filled with wildlife and has previously dismissed as potential housing site three times before.

We have lobbied very hard on this point and got support from Carl Sargeant AM, Mark Tami MP and from the Flintshire planning department. Most recently the Welsh Minister has written to all planning officers and to developers to try and reduce the number of these speculative applications. 

5. The Village Provided the Proof
The questionnaire we sent out before Christmas generated a huge response - nearly 800 replies - and 80% of them asked for no more growth. There was lots of evidence there about the harm being suffered across the village and Flintshire are listening - thank you to everyone who took the time to fill it in - it has helped a huge amount.

So that's it - right now, we are finishing our own Community Plan which will set out where development might be possible in the coming years - we are not NIMBY's and we need to be realistic - but we would like to wait for Flintshire to complete their plan before we accept any more development.

WHAT YOU CAN DO...
Please print the SAVE OUR VILLAGE poster and put it in your window for Monday. If you can, please come and show your support when the Planning Committee visit at 10:00am on Monday or go to County Hall for committee on Wednesday at 1:00pm.

Thank you. 

 

The 4-Stages to stop a Planning Application

These are the 4 stages to stop a planning application and where the Redrow application is up to:

1. Planning Officer
An application is assigned a case officer at Flintshire County Council. Their job is to assess all the planning matters affecting it and whether it is compliant with policy and 'sustainable'. Our job is to explain which policies we believe it does not comply with and why, and also what harm will be done to the community or infrastructure if the application goes ahead. When the planning officer has reviewed the case, including public comments and consultations with statutory bodies, then they make a recommendation to approve or refuse the application.

REDROW CASE - The planning officer has recommended REFUSAL
HAWARDEN ROAD CASE - The planning officer is expected to recommend approval

2. Planning Committee
The planning committee sit once a month and review applications. They receive all the paperwork and are trained in planning policy but they elected representatives and not planning professionals. They must take advice from the planning officer and the legal officer on each case. They listen to the planning officer's recommendation and then vote on whether they agree with it. Our job is to lobby each of the committee members to persuade them that, irrespective of what the planning officer recommends, the application should be refused. Sometime the committee will go against the officer, but not often.

REDROW CASE - The planning committee are coming to Chester Road on Monday 10th April10:00am  and they will vote on Wednesday 12th April 1:00pm at County Hall - you can attend both of these. It is not guaranteed that they will follow the officers' recommendation.

3. Appeal
If an application is refused, the applicant can appeal the decision. In Wales that means it goes to Welsh Government where an independent inspector is assigned the case. The inspector is a planning professional and they will review all the case notes, national and local policies, including public comments and the views of the statutory bodies. The will then decide whether to uphold the decision of the committee or override them and approve the application (this happened recently in Higher Kinnerton). Sometimes they will approve with some conditions attached. Where there are more than 150 houses in the development, the case automatically goes before the Welsh Minister for consideration. Inspectors should reach the same conclusion as the original case officer but that is not guaranteed.

REDROW - We have been lobbying the Welsh Minister, our Assembly Member and met with planning officers from Cardiff to state our case.

4. Local Development Plan
Assuming a planning application has been refused after an appeal, there is still a risk that the site could be brought forward with another application, as long as the detail has changed sufficiently.

REDROW - The land is a candidate site in the Local Development Plan and if it were adopted then the application could be resubmitted as it is.

So we are preparing a Community Development Plan which sets out how we want the village to grow in the next 13 years -  we will be sharing the first draft in the coming weeks and we need the support of the whole village to make sure that any development we have is proportionate to the size of the village.

Redrow Planning Committee Dates

What's happening?
The Planning Committee are coming to Penyffordd on Monday at 10:00am to visit the site - we want as many people as possible to be there to welcome them.

Wednesday 12th April is Decision Day
The Committee meet at 1:00pm on Wednesday 12th April in the Council Chambers at County Hall, Mold. Please come along.

What happens at Committee?
The committee is made up of elected councillors. They have read all the comments and objections about the application in advance. They may visit the site in the next few days in a minibus. The Planning Officers will make a recommendation, based on their interpretation of planning policies and law, on whether to approve or refuse the application. 

The applicant is allowed to speak. Our Councillors, Cindy Hinds and David Williams are allowed to speak for 5 minutes each and one public representative from the village is allowed to speak for 3 minutes.

The committee members are allowed to comment before they take a vote.

What can we do?
There is a public gallery and we would like to turn up in numbers to show the strength of feeling in the village. We need to offer lifts to people, get organised and get to County Hall - aim to be there by 12.30pm. Committee usually lasts a couple of hours in total but they stop to let the public leave once their case has been heard. We don't yet know the order of the agenda.

What happens after Committee?
If the committee approve the application, then that it over. Redrow can build the houses. The planning offers may make conditions which must be met first, but otherwise there is nothing more that can be done to stop it.

If the committee refuse the application, Redrow have a right of appeal. The appeal is held at Welsh Government and the minister oversees the appeal - because there are more than 150 houses on the site. 

Parking Details for County Hall
You can park in the front car park overlooking Raikes Lane.  To get there you need to drive down the road with the Law Courts on your left and the Council building on your right, you will come to a small roundabout, turn right and follow the road under the Council building, the road will take you to the front car park.  

Please being some change as you have to pay to park at County Hall now.

 

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.