FOLLOWING THE approval of planning for the animal feed centre at Cwm Eynon in Four Roads, The Herald contacted one of the spokespersons for the group opposed to the plans.
Andrew Stevens is a local resident and has been organising protests and driving the campaign to try and stop the plans from going through. He told The Herald: “I was disappointed, not so much that we lost: It was the unanimous decision and lack of any support from any of the members of the planning Committee.
“Some of these at least must live in villages similar to Four Roads and could appreciate the misgivings we have. More importantly, they are our representatives, paid by us, to consider the less technical aspects and to judge using their wisdom and local knowledge.”
Mr Stevens has questioned the accuracy of material placed before the committee. He said: “I was particularly aggrieved that we had employed a surveyor and traffic consultant to prove that the required visibility splay which was part of the conditions could not be met despite the late amendment which moved the entrance towards Four Roads.
“Incidentally, I pointed out that the plan shown to the Committee was the earlier (pre-amendment) one.”
Mr Stevens said that the applicants recognised that the conditions could not be met and put in an amendment moving the entrance towards Four roads and claiming that they could achieve a visibility splay of 160m (correct for 50mph limit)
He said: “The village employed a surveyor and traffic consultant who showed that this could not be metat around 23m from the proposed entrance in Meinciau direction, visibility from a motor car was obscured by hedge bank not owned by the applicant so the planning condition could not be met, yet the planning officer still recommended approval.”
A resident who did not wish to be named said: “As farmers next door we are concerned that this represents a serious animal health risk and my wife asked for the earlier application to be called in for determination by the Welsh Assembly Government because of more than local significance (the economic effects of an outbreak of disease similar to Fand M 2001 could be devastating for South Wales and England – food ingredients come from Wiltshire).”
Another local resident Audrey Fetton told The Herald of her experiences with the County Council’s planning officers. She said: “I applied for outline planning for a bungalow only a few metres from the proposed entrance and exit onto the main road. I was told I would not get planning approval as it was too close to the bend. They gave me all the measurements.
“When I objected to the Cwm Eynon site I was told that if they got permission it was likely I would get permission. How can they change the rules?”
Adam Price MP also objected to the plans. In a letter to the local authority, Mr Price wrote: ‘Having met my constituents and seen for myself the location of the proposed planning application, I have come to the conclusion that it is a highly unsuitable location for the nature and scale of the proposed development.’
Osian Roberts of DPP Planning acting for the applicant told The Herald: “There is nothing untoward here.
“The site is for delivery of feed to other farmers rather than farmers coming to the site. It is creating jobs for the local area. We are looking at bringing a road across the field rather than through the village.
“All the vehicles would be using the new route across the field rather than bring the HGV’s into the village. It is creating jobs and improving the appearance of the buildings. It is improving the whole appearance of the site for local residents and for the wider market for sustainability.
“This is a brown field site. It is currently not being used for anything. It has suffered from vandalism. There is a history of unauthorised planning uses on the site. The owner has had to put a fence up.
“There is a real benefit to the local people in terms of having the security of having an appropriate user and a good user and the use itself is quiet: it is just dry feeds. It is a good neighbour for local residents.
“The council are proposing a condition to restrict the number of movements of HGV’s on the site. That gives the local residents and the local authority a little bit of control of how many vehicles come onto the site.”
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