Development of 24 Homes Behind Miners Welfare Recommended For Refusal

A housing application which would see the development of 24 homes on former recreational space in Llay have been recommended for refusal. 

In September Wrexham.com reported that an outline application had been submitted to Wrexham Council proposing that 24 new homes are developed on land south of the Miners Welfare Institute on Llay New Road, Wrexham.

On Monday 2nd November the application will go before Wrexham’s Planning Committee, with a recommendation put forward by the Planning Officer to refuse the development.

The application itself comprises of the development of 24 homes, along with associated parking and the creation of a new access point for vehicles and pedestrians.

Previously the proposed site, which is around 0.8 hectares in size was rented by the council from the applicants and was used as public open space. However recreational use for the site has since ceased, with the applicant’s documents stating that ‘no evidence has been apparent of an unmet demand for such a use to be established’.

The planning document notes that there were no objections from the Llay Community Council, aside from the loss of a number of mature trees on the site.

Nineteen neighbours / occupiers of nearby dwellings were also consulted in September, with three objections received expressing concerns regarding: traffic problems, the distances to existing dwellings, impact upon light, loss of trees and the impact upon parking on the existing lay-by opposite the site access.

While the outline application is noted to help meet the housing demand in Wrexham, the Planning Officer lists several reasons as to why the development should be refused. These include the loss of trees, the lack of space available for off-street parking and the proposed layout of the 24 homes – which are described as resulting in ‘a bland and poor standard of development and would provide no built frontage to Llay New Road’.

The report concludes: “Whilst the development lies outside of a settlement limit and therefore does not accord with policies PS1 and H5 of the UDP, in light of the significant need to increase the supply of land available in housing in the County Borough as well as the fact that the site is a logical extension to the existing built up area there are valid reason to depart from those policies in this instance.

“Notwithstanding the above, in my opinion the site cannot accommodate 24 dwellings in a way that provides for an appropriate standard of design, without resulting in the loss of trees that make a positive contribution to the appearance of the locality, does not harm the setting of listed buildings and makes adequate provision for off-street parking. Accordingly the proposals do not accord with policies GDP1 (a), EC4, EC9 and T8 of the Wrexham Unitary Development Plan.”

The application will go before Wrexham’s Planning Committee on Monday 2nd November at 4pm. For those who can’t make the meeting it is anticipated it will be broadcast live on the Wrexham Council website via webcast.