Trgeynon housing plans called in by Powys Council

by Elgan Hearn Local Democracy Reporter

A planning application has been called in front of Powys County Council’s planning meeting on Thursday, March 21, due to concerns about road safety.

Applicant Martn Hough has submitted an outline planning application to build three affordable houses in Tregynon. The plot of land is next to Llys Cynon in the village.

Local County Councillor, Heulwen Hulme (Independent – Rhiwcynon), has called the application into committee, on the grounds of safe access to and from the proposed development.

Cllr Hulme said that she is concerned about the highways around the church corner, where there is no footpath into the centre of the village.

She also notes the worries about  and water drainage run off into the lower apart of Tan y Llan housing estate , which suffered serious flooding in 2007.

“Houses numbered 45-61 Tan y Llan have existing drainage issues in their back gardens and (this application) is causing considerable local controversy, ” said Cllr Hulme.

PCC’s Highways Department believes the application should be deferred to a later date.

In a report they said: “The existing access is not capable of serving this development due to the sub-standard nature of the access.

“We therefore consider it imperative that access proposals are submitted for consideration as part of this application.

“All access to the proposed development site is gained via the existing private road, which suffers from severely restricted visibility to the north east, substandard radii and gradient.

“Any increased use of the access as proposed would be detrimental to highway safety conditions.”

They also say that the turning is to small for a refuse lorry.

Planning officer, Dunya Fourie, said: “Tregynon is classified as a large village and the site is located outside the of Tregynon Settlement Boundary as defined by the Local Development Plan (LDP).

“The authority considers the site forms a logical extension of the settlement boundary of a large village.

“In such locations affordable housing schemes are considered acceptable in principle.

“The proposed scheme is for 100 per-cent affordable development.

“The authority considers the benefit of an affordable housing scheme should not be compromised by requiring the upgrade of highways infrastructure.”

Ms Fourie goes on to recommend approval subject to 29 conditions.