Protestors in Gresford take on traffic to make point over 44 house development plan for Vicarage Lane
Gresford residents held a protest yesterday evening against proposals for a housing development for 44 houses on a field off Vicarage Lane.
The application, which has been lodged by Gower Homes, proposes that 44 dwellings – 11 of which would be affordable housing – are built on land west of Bryn Isa at Vicarage Lane.
The protest was moved from directly by the field to further up the road at the library due to safety concerns for those attending. The surprisingly busy road saw several cars carefully pass the group, despite residents being just off the highway, in the short 15 minute period they fully gathered.
Pictured above is one moment a HGV cab made its way down the road to a genuine mixture of concern and delight, with worry over the safety of those on or by the road, but also excitement there was a practical example of the types of traffic issues on the narrow roadway the protestors were trying to highlight.
Cllr Andrew Atkinson who used to live a stones throw away from where the protest took place, “I firmly believe that this development would make Vicarage Lane even more unsafe. There is no mitigation that can make that lane safer. I used to live on the lane and I know first hand that the traffic issues are a nightmare. It’s a narrow lane that’s used regularly by HGV’s and there are often stand-offs between numerous vehicles that are stuck and can’t get passed each other. Highways have serious concerns about this development and I hope that’s noticed on Monday.”
“I’m not at all against development in the right places but I do believe that this site should never be developed as the risks are too great and safety must come first.”
“I’m really pleased that residents came out to protest against this application but even the group photo had to be taken further down the lane from the proposed site as it’s too dangerous to gather on the road outside it.”
Simon Ward speaking on behalf of the Gresford Residents Group said: “The development would contravene a number of policies in the WCBC Unitary Development Plan and Welsh Government Planning Policy Wales Edition 10 and with this in mind we really hope that councillors will vote to refuse this application on Monday.”
Chair of the Community Council, Councillor Andrew Bailey will be speaking on behalf of the residents group objecting on Monday with a number of residents planning to attend and watch from the public gallery at the Guildhall.
As we reported earlier this week the council’s highways department add that the development does not meet the guidelines which “require residential developments to provide safe walking and cycling routes to local facilities and public transport stops.”
They add: “Significant concerns are raised that pedestrians would have to walk to and from the village without a continuous footway link.
“A significant percentage of vehicles using Vicarage Lane throughout the week can be attributed to HGV’s as indicated in the previously submitted Transport Statement.
“The proposed traffic calming/footway scheme is not supported by the Traffic Section or Road Safety Section.
There are also concerns that the development is contrary to local planning policies and would have an “adverse impact on local infrastructure.”
But in the report Planning Officer Mr Isted states that the “concerns raised by the Highway Authority are not considered to be so significant as to warrant refusal on highway safety grounds.”
Mr Ward also detailed several planning reasons that the group believe apply to this proposal, “There are so many grounds for refusal for this site and we’ve set them out for all to see.”
The unusually detailed full range of reasons for refusal the group are suggesting were passed to us and are copied below:
– The development would be outside the settlement limit, contrary to UDP policies PS1 and H5.
– The development would constitute inappropriate development within the Green Barrier, contrary to UDP policy EC1 and PPW10 paragraphs 3.68 – 3.71.
– The development would involve the loss of BMV Grade 3a agricultural land, contrary to UPD policies PS3, EC2 and PPW10 paragraphs 3.54 – 3.55.
– The development would be within a Special Landscape Area. UDP policy EC5 places strict controls on development within Special Landscape Areas other than for specific purposes, none of which are applicable to the proposed development.
– The applicant cannot demonstrate safe and satisfactory vehicular and pedestrian access, and traffic volumes are forecast to increase to dangerous levels. The development would therefore be contrary to UDP policies PS4, GDP1(d), GDP1(e), T9.
– Construction of the development entrance and new housing frontages would involve the removal of an important hedgerow, which is protected under the Hedgerow Regulations 1997, contrary to UDP policy EC4.
– As the proposed development contravenes all of these policies in the UDP and PPW10, a decision to approve it would also run contrary to the Future Generations Well-being Act (Wales) 2015 Sections 3 and 5.
– A recent application for 8 mews houses on Old Wrexham Road, Gresford (P/2019/0336) – on land adjoining the Vicarage Lane site – was refused on the grounds that the scheme contravened many of the same planning policies that the Vicarage Lane scheme contravenes.
– WCBC have assessed the site’s suitability for development on multiple occasions in the past. It was considered as a candidate site during the preparation of the Unitary Development Plan, Local Development Plan 1, and most recently Local Development Plan 2. On each occasion it was considered to be unsuitable. As a result, the site was not allocated for development in the forthcoming Local Development Plan 2.
– The applicant has forecast an increase in traffic volumes on Vicarage Lane of between 24% and 35%. This would be dangerous and completely unacceptable.
– The proposed traffic management scheme is unsuitable and likely to cause substantial problems on the road, including: problems with vehicles interacting with the traffic light junction on Chester Road; visibility problems with traffic entering/exiting Old Wrexham Road; blocking of the box junction area that provides access to and from Old Wrexham Road; causing traffic to back up into the middle of the Chester Road junction; potential blocking of existing residents’ access; problems cause by the fact that the scheme is unsuitable for use by HGVs and heavy agricultural vehicles.
– The local Highway Authority has expressed concerns about the impact the proposed development would have on Vicarage Lane since the very beginning of the planning process, noting the unsuitability of the proposed traffic management system, the unacceptable increase in traffic the development would cause, and the lack of safe pedestrian/cycle routes.
– The local Highway Authority first raised their concerns in a meeting with the applicants on 1st August 2017, and has since reinterred them in formal correspondence on the following dates: 12th October 2017; 18th September 2018; 15th January 2019; 15th May 2019; 12th June 2019; 11th July 2019. These concerns have gone unheeded and the Highway Authority has therefore stated that they cannot support the development proposal, noting that it is contrary Welsh Government Technical Advice Note 18 paragraphs 3.4 and 3.6.
– The Ecology Officer has objected due to the potential loss of important hedgerows.
– The Tree Officer has also objected due to the potential loss of important hedgerows.
– There is insufficient capacity at Alyn Family Doctors to accommodate any new housing development.
– The planning officer has received objections from Gresford Community Council, the local members for both Gresford and Marford, The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, and the IMAGE group.
– The planning officer received a total of 286 representations from local residents. 285 of these were objections, 1 representation was neutral.
The application report will be considered by Wrexham Council Planning Committee on Monday evening.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email [email protected]
