Agenda item

10.1 34C556B – Gwernhefin, Glanhwfa Road, Llangefni

10.1    34C556B – Outline application for the erection of a dwelling together with full details of the access on land adjacent to Gwernhefin, Glanhwfa Road, Llangefni

The application was reported to the Planning and Orders Committee because it is a departure from the Ynys Môn Local Plan which the Local Planning Authority is minded to approve.

The Chair informed the Committee that she had been notified by Councillor Dylan Rees, a Local Member that he was requesting that a site visit be carried out. She invited Councillor Dylan Rees to give his reasons for wanting the Committee to visit the site.

Councillor Dylan Rees said that residents in the immediate locality, although they did not object to the development itself had contacted him because of concerns about the access to the proposed development site off Glanhwfa Road.  Two previous applications on this site have been refused due to highway safety issues; he therefore considered it important that the Committee’s Members view the access for themselves to assess whether the conditions proposed in the report are sufficient to address potential highways issues.

Councillor Nicola Roberts, also speaking as a Local Member said that she took a different view in considering the conditions outlined in the Officer’s report to be adequate to ensure highway safety thereby making a site visit unnecessary. The proposed development will be served by an existing access that is already in use.

The Highways Officer confirmed that the access is a matter for concern because of sub-standard visibility to the North East. However existing permission for the adjacent Park Mount site is conditional upon ensuring the boundary is kept no higher than 1m and that nothing within 1m of the boundary can be higher than 1m at any time. This is an enforcement matter which should secure satisfactory vision splay in that direction. The Highways Authority therefore raises no objection to the proposed development.

The Legal Services Manager advised that despite having received consent, there is no guarantee that the Park Mount development will go ahead or that consequently the visibility will be improved to conform to the Highways Service’s requirements. It is a consideration that the Committee needs to bear in mind.

Councillor Ken Hughes proposed, and was seconded by Councillor John Griffith, that the Committee proceeds to determine the application. Councillor Robin Williams proposed and was seconded by Councillor Dafydd Roberts that the site be visited in accordance with the Local Member’s request. In the ensuing vote the proposal that the application be determined was carried.

Public Speaker –

Mrs Rhian Williams (for the proposal) spoke on behalf of her son, the applicant who was born and bred in Llangefni and who ran a small business employing six local young men. The first application was submitted in 2006 following which a static caravan was put on site to afford her son a measure of independence from the family home and to conduct his business with his employees. This arrangement is no longer suitable especially as her son now has a seven-year-old child who needs the stability that would be provided by a permanent dwelling and the continuation of the business.  She asked the Committee to look kindly upon the application as one made by a young man of the locality who has striven to comply with all the changes asked of him to make sure the application complies with planning regulations.

The Committee questioned Mrs Williams on the extent of the business activity on site and whether this would likely add to highway safety issues. Mrs Williams clarified that two vans have been coming and going to and from the site for many years. She said that she understood that the visibility would have to be improved from her property at Gwernhefin which would not be a problem. Nothing would change in terms of traffic with her son’s car, two vans and the two properties above Gwernhefin continuing to utilise the shared access.

Councillor Dylan Rees, a Local Member said that whilst he was sympathetic to Mrs Williams’s request and while the neighbours did not disagree with the application, their concerns regarding the access arrangements remain. The shared access road is a single track unsuitable for toing and froing for business purposes – a Facebook page shows the business-related apparatus already on the site including vans, a skip and a storage container. Local residents are worried that this activity will increase once the dwelling is erected and they ask that a condition be imposed that no business may be run from the site because of the additional hazards that would cause with regard to highway safety.

The Planning Development Manager reported that although the application site is outside the development boundary of Llangefni within the Ynys Môn Local Plan, the majority of the site is within the stopped Unitary Development Plan and the Joint Local Development Plan; the proposal is therefore acceptable in policy terms. The application has been amended to lower the height of the intended dwelling to reduce its visual impact on the landscape and the surrounding area. Welsh Water proposes standard conditions; the Drainage Section has asked for further details and Llangefni Town Council comments that the access should meet technical requirements. Two additional letters citing concern about highway safety have been received. The Officer’s report states that there is no evidence that a business is being run from the site – that is in any case an enforcement matter rather than one that can be addressed by a planning condition. The Highways Service raises no objection to the proposal and the recommendation is therefore one of approval.

Councillor Nicola Roberts speaking as a Local Member voiced her support for the application as one that is compliant with policy. The proposal is far more visually acceptable than the static caravan that is already on site; the highways issues are being dealt with and the volume of traffic will be not greater than what it is at present. Councillor R.G. Parry, OBE, FRAgS, the other Local Member is also supportive of the application. Councillor Roberts proposed, and was seconded by Councillor Kenneth Hughes, that the application be approved.

Councillor Shaun Redmond said that the questions regarding the nature of the business activity on site remained unanswered. Councillor Redmond also questioned the policy basis on which this and a number of other applications at today’s meeting were being considered with weight being given to the Joint Local Development Plan (JLDP) over and above existing plans even though the JLDP is as yet unadopted. Councillor Shaun Redmond said that he was minded to abstain from voting on all applications where the JLDP provided the policy justification as he was not convinced that such decisions would not be open to challenge.

The Planning Development Manager reminded the Committee that the application is for a dwelling and that the issue of the business is a separate enforcement matter. As regards policy, the Inspector’s binding report and recommendations with regard to the JLDP have been received and as such significant weight can be placed on the Plan as the most up to date current policy.

The Legal Services Manager advised that the matter of securing the required visibility over 3rd party land can be addressed by a Grampian condition which would restrict the development from commencing until the visibility issue has been addressed, and that a Section 106 agreement may also be needed. In terms of policy, the JDLP is beyond doubt a material planning consideration attracting significant weight in the determination of applications from now onwards having been subject to the Inspector’s examination and recommendations which gives weight to the Plan’s policies.

Councillor Kenneth Hughes said that he was supportive of the application as one that is also in line with the provisions of the stopped UDP.

It was resolved to approve the application in accordance with the Officer’s recommendation subject to the conditions outlined in the written report.