There was no approval today for the 77 units planned by Clwyd Alyn housing adjacent to Taylor Wimpey's Glasdir. Councillors rejected the proposal by nine votes to four. This in spite of an officer recommendation for approval.
If not here, where will developers put new low cost housing such as this? On land between Wrexham and Corwen Roads, perhaps? That would be a disaster for the scenic approach to Rhuthun/Ruthin.
This Clwyd Alyn site seemed so well suited for housing. It's been earmarked as such under the local development plan for more than 20 years. It's so-called affordable or social housing and no one seems to deny that this isn't necessary. Other than those who love next door on Glasdir, of course. Tthe fears of the established Glasdir estate seemed to have won the day. In supporting them, have local councillors played to the audience rather than considering the housing needs of the area. A planning inspector will no doubt reverse their decision. Some of the councillors' arguments were spurious:
That Ffordd Glasdir (the Northern Link Road) has no capacity for extra housing
A councillor cited a wait of up to 20 minutes in trying to exit the Glasdir school site. This is not my experience. There is often a small build up of cars trying to leave the school site twice a day but the queue doesn't usually amount to much or last anything like that length of time. It disperses well and the link road isn't congested. It would help were drivers to be forced to turn left out of the site. It would help more if parents cycled or walked their children (but that may not always be practical). Remember the absolute chaos at the other end of town, where learners had to walk to cars parked well away from the site?
A highways engineer confirmed that when the road was designed it took into account likely volumes from all possible housing and schools (it probably also included traffic to the light industry once planned opposite Taylor Wimpey's site, now abandoned).
Incrementally, there are far too many local houses planned for the services to support them
A councillor felt, with housing at Llanbedr, Llanfair and Llanrhaeadr, that there were over 500 units being or to be built. This inlcuded the Clawyd Alyn 77, 69 at Llys Famau and 67 at Maes Hafod. It included over 160 by Taylor Wimpey.
Between them, it would threaten existing services such as doctors, dentists, schools and social care. This argument is a sound one but it does come with one obvious flaw. If every decision was halted on this basis, Rhuthun would have the same population as in medieval times. Services tend to keep pace with development, otherwise our doctors would still be in their sub-standard Mount Street premises where the dentist now is; Ysgol Brynhyfryd would not have its new blocks; and neither would the leisure centre.
And tell our hard-pressed shop keepers that they may miss out on more trade from more housing.
That the proposed housing styles were not in character with the town
The same could quite easily be said for Erw Goch, Cae Seren, Parc Brynhyfryd, Bro Deg and even Taylor Wimpey's Glasdir. Glasdir itself is not actually a part of the town. It remains isolated and on the fringe and this, surely, is a better place for bold designs than nearer the centre. That the timber-clad buildings represented the future of sustainable housing seemed to pass councillors by. There's no doubt that the design could be better and you could certainly say that of the Taylor Wimpey estate and many more besides in Rhuthun.
And then there were more genuine reasons why the estate should not go ahead.
There is a risk of flooding
The flood technical advice note (TAN) no. 15 is up for review by the Welsh government. This much was announced yesterday. We live in a very different environment to that which existed when TAN 15 was written. We have seen at first hand the devastation at Glasdir, in 2012.
Yet, while Storms Ciara and Dennis lapped at the very base of the Taylor Wimpey bund, the Clwyd Alyn land remained dry. Officers stated that they had undertaken their work diligently in accordance not with outdated TAN 15 but the latest available information, with references to the council's flood risk manager and Natural Resources Wales.
It's nevertheless perfectly possible to see where councillors were coming from. The large-ish open space on the new site was in a hollow or depression which would act as a reservoir at need for flood water. It would be protected by its own bund, which was not a ringing endorsement. To the general public, this did not sound as reassuring as when the planner who spoke on behalf of Clwyd Alyn said that the site had been modeled "including allowing for climate change". That the officer report seemed to mention that flood mitigation was *broadly* acceptable was probably not strong enough to persuade councillors.
The lead officer sensed the mood of the committee but also had an eye on a possible appeal.
There was one area that wasn't mentioned and, here, we feel that this is an important point in favour of refusal (perhaps this was not a relevant planning consideration). That was the impact an extra 77 (or 500) houses will have on the flavour, the feeling, the quality of the town. Rhuthun is special. One reason for this is its size. Another is its demographic make-up. Both set Rhuthun apart from other towns in Denbighshire and, indeed, the former Clwyd. It may sound snobbish but Rhuthun is relatively wealthy and there is no part of town that is below Wales' average. The housing as almost universally proposed is not likely to help to maintain that prosperity and who knows what an impact this may have on us all.
This Clwyd Alyn site seemed so well suited for housing. It's been earmarked as such under the local development plan for more than 20 years. It's so-called affordable or social housing and no one seems to deny that this isn't necessary. Other than those who love next door on Glasdir, of course. Tthe fears of the established Glasdir estate seemed to have won the day. In supporting them, have local councillors played to the audience rather than considering the housing needs of the area. A planning inspector will no doubt reverse their decision. Some of the councillors' arguments were spurious:
That Ffordd Glasdir (the Northern Link Road) has no capacity for extra housing
A councillor cited a wait of up to 20 minutes in trying to exit the Glasdir school site. This is not my experience. There is often a small build up of cars trying to leave the school site twice a day but the queue doesn't usually amount to much or last anything like that length of time. It disperses well and the link road isn't congested. It would help were drivers to be forced to turn left out of the site. It would help more if parents cycled or walked their children (but that may not always be practical). Remember the absolute chaos at the other end of town, where learners had to walk to cars parked well away from the site?
A highways engineer confirmed that when the road was designed it took into account likely volumes from all possible housing and schools (it probably also included traffic to the light industry once planned opposite Taylor Wimpey's site, now abandoned).
Incrementally, there are far too many local houses planned for the services to support them
A councillor felt, with housing at Llanbedr, Llanfair and Llanrhaeadr, that there were over 500 units being or to be built. This inlcuded the Clawyd Alyn 77, 69 at Llys Famau and 67 at Maes Hafod. It included over 160 by Taylor Wimpey.
Between them, it would threaten existing services such as doctors, dentists, schools and social care. This argument is a sound one but it does come with one obvious flaw. If every decision was halted on this basis, Rhuthun would have the same population as in medieval times. Services tend to keep pace with development, otherwise our doctors would still be in their sub-standard Mount Street premises where the dentist now is; Ysgol Brynhyfryd would not have its new blocks; and neither would the leisure centre.
And tell our hard-pressed shop keepers that they may miss out on more trade from more housing.
That the proposed housing styles were not in character with the town
The same could quite easily be said for Erw Goch, Cae Seren, Parc Brynhyfryd, Bro Deg and even Taylor Wimpey's Glasdir. Glasdir itself is not actually a part of the town. It remains isolated and on the fringe and this, surely, is a better place for bold designs than nearer the centre. That the timber-clad buildings represented the future of sustainable housing seemed to pass councillors by. There's no doubt that the design could be better and you could certainly say that of the Taylor Wimpey estate and many more besides in Rhuthun.
And then there were more genuine reasons why the estate should not go ahead.
There is a risk of flooding
The flood technical advice note (TAN) no. 15 is up for review by the Welsh government. This much was announced yesterday. We live in a very different environment to that which existed when TAN 15 was written. We have seen at first hand the devastation at Glasdir, in 2012.
Yet, while Storms Ciara and Dennis lapped at the very base of the Taylor Wimpey bund, the Clwyd Alyn land remained dry. Officers stated that they had undertaken their work diligently in accordance not with outdated TAN 15 but the latest available information, with references to the council's flood risk manager and Natural Resources Wales.
Flooding issues on site were initially modeled by Rhuthun's respected Waterco
It's nevertheless perfectly possible to see where councillors were coming from. The large-ish open space on the new site was in a hollow or depression which would act as a reservoir at need for flood water. It would be protected by its own bund, which was not a ringing endorsement. To the general public, this did not sound as reassuring as when the planner who spoke on behalf of Clwyd Alyn said that the site had been modeled "including allowing for climate change". That the officer report seemed to mention that flood mitigation was *broadly* acceptable was probably not strong enough to persuade councillors.
The lead officer sensed the mood of the committee but also had an eye on a possible appeal.
There was one area that wasn't mentioned and, here, we feel that this is an important point in favour of refusal (perhaps this was not a relevant planning consideration). That was the impact an extra 77 (or 500) houses will have on the flavour, the feeling, the quality of the town. Rhuthun is special. One reason for this is its size. Another is its demographic make-up. Both set Rhuthun apart from other towns in Denbighshire and, indeed, the former Clwyd. It may sound snobbish but Rhuthun is relatively wealthy and there is no part of town that is below Wales' average. The housing as almost universally proposed is not likely to help to maintain that prosperity and who knows what an impact this may have on us all.