Retrospective planning for Glyn Ceiriog goat hut set to go before councillors

A goat hut on the outskirts of a Wrexham village may have to be taken down if retrospective planning permission is not granted.

Wrexham Council’s planning committee meets on Monday to make a decision on an application concerning the structure on land off Church Hill in Glyn Ceiriog.

But while the recommendation to the planning committee is to grant the proposal, the council has received nine objections for reasons ranging from a lack of information being provided about what the site is being used for to concerns about traffic increase and subsidence.

A report written for the committee by council planning officers states: “The application site is a parcel of land to the south-west of Pen-draw’r-garth Ucha, Church Hill and to the north-west of the settlement, Glyn Ceiriog.

“The site is bordered to the south by a narrow access lane, open countryside to the north west and a residential property to the east.

The application site also lies within the boundary of a Special Landscape Area.

“Planning permission is sought for a storage building, goat hut/shelter and a wooden structure composting toilet. All three buildings are already on site, therefore the application is in retrospect.

“The application initially also proposed the erection of a greenhouse, however amended plans removed this from the application.”

As Wrexham does not have a Local Development Plan, councillors will have to continue referring to the Unitary Development Plan for guidance.

This states the construction of new agricultural buildings should form part of an existing farm complex with isolated buildings only being permitted in exceptional circumstances where there is an essential agricultural need.

“The applicant has not provided a supporting statement to identify a need”, states a report written by planning officers for the committee.

“However, the site is isolated from any established farm complex and therefore is not unreasonable to conclude a need for a modest amount of development for use in conjunction with the management of the land.

“Given the overall scale of the development and the proposed agricultural use, the principle of the development is acceptable.”

Some of these issues raised in the objections are addressed in the planning officer report which adds: “Due to the appearance of the buildings and their modest scale, the development does not detract from the rural landscape or Special Landscape Area.

“The development also does not give rise to highway safety, residential amenity, ecology or surface water concerns.”

But the storage building, goat shelter and composting toilet may be permanently removed from the site within 28 days of a failure to meet the conditions recommended by council planning chiefs.

These include taking biodiversity measures and implementing a landscaping scheme.

Wrexham Council’s planning committee meets on Monday (June 5) to determine the application.

By Rory Sheehan – BBC Local Democracy Reporter