Appeal launched against refusal of new homes surrounding historic Ruabon building

An appeal has been launched against the refusal of a small housing development on land surrounding a historic monument.

Wrexham Council’s planning department turned down proposals for the former Wynnstay Colliery in Ruabon because of concerns about how it would impact the listed Walker Fan House building.

The application would have seen six houses built either side of the structure, which has been described by Cadw as being of ‘national importance’.

It was built in 1902 to ventilate the colliery and the historic environment service said it had the potential to enhance knowledge of industrial practices.

Steven Davies, who is behind the plans, has now submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate in a bid to overturn the local authority’s decision.

In documents lodged on his behalf, a planning agent claimed the scheme would not harm the fan house.

Dafydd Edwards from Blueprint Architectural Services said: “During the course of a previous application, a meeting on site with a CADW representative, planning officer and conservationist confirmed an application which included the area outlined as the ancient monument couldn’t be supported.

“With direction provided during the site meeting, Blueprint set out to ensure a new proposal did not include an area as outlined by CADW as the ancient monument.

“This would then ensure no harm would be placed on the registered site and the area could remain un-touched.

“The development includes six dwellings on the site which demonstrated a good use of land available.

“This included the demolition of a bungalow occupying the site which was previously the ticket office associated with Wynnstay Colliery.

“The addition of properties would enhance the current characteristics of the site, by demolishing the unsightly pre-fabricated bungalow and removing vegetation from the application site.”

Walker fans were patented in 1887 and the building housed a fan measuring approximately seven metres in diameter.

Like many structures in the area, it was built using red bricks.

In a decision notice, the council said insufficient information had been included with the application to show that it would not impact the monument.

Officers said: “No evaluation of the footprint areas to determine whether industrial archaeological remains related to the colliery are present here has been provided.

“Insufficient information has been submitted with the application to demonstrate that any resultant surface water generated by the development would be disposed of appropriately.

“In the absence of this information, it has not been demonstrated that the flood risk can be acceptably managed post development.”

The appeal will be decided by an inspector appointed by the Welsh Government at a future date.

*Picture: Planning document

By Liam Randall – BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme).