Decision time looms for controversial homes scheme

* The site of the proposed housing development at Vicarage Road.

A controversial scheme to build 99 homes on land at Vicarage Road in Llangollen is likely to be decided within the next couple of months, according to a senior county planner.

Earlier this year Castlemead Homes submitted an application to Denbighshire County Council for the development, which includes a mixture of two, three and four bedroom detached and semi-detached properties.

But the scheme has sparked fears amongst people in the area that local roads will not be able to cope with the extra traffic it will generate both during construction and when the new homes are occupied.

The scheme has attracted considerable opposition and members of the group campaigning against it have submitted evidence to the council which they say shows the kind of traffic problems it would create on roads leading to the site from the town centre.

One of the opponents has just received notification from a senior planning official which says: “We are in the process of receiving various amended details in relation to the application. Once these details are complete and finalised then a re-consultation with interested parties will take place.

“The deadline to report to October Planning Committee has passed and therefore I would anticipate that the application will be presented to either the November or December Planning meeting.”

Planning permission to build 54 houses on land adjacent to Vicarage Road was granted to Castlemead on appeal by Denbighshire back in 2001.

Attached to the original application was a Section 106 agreement under which the developer was legally bound to build a new access road to the site before the scheme was started.

The field above the main site has since been included in the Local Development Plan at the request of the Planning Inspectorate to encourage the building of more houses to meet local demand.

Castlemead’s latest application has been to build a further 45 homes, making a total of 99 houses on four parcels of land.

A statement issued on behalf of the company by planning consultants in support of the application said it would not be economic to build the access road before construction work starts on the houses and suggests it should be put in place by the time the 31^st dwelling has been occupied.

As part of the formal consultation process, the town council has been able to give its official response to the application although a decision on it rests with the county council.   

At their May meeting all seven members of the town’s planning committee voted to object to the proposal.

In a subsequent development, the Welsh Government told the county council not to decide on the application until major road issues had been clarified.