A LLANDUDNO builder’s yard will be converted into a home, despite concerns about flooding.
Applicant Probuild Ltd submitted an application to Conwy’s planning committee, seeking to convert a builder’s yard at Jubilee Passage into a home.
The matter was discussed at a previous planning committee meeting in which councillors granted the application, subject to a condition requiring “safe refuge” from flooding on the first floor.
But planning officers advised that the committee should refuse planning permission, due to Natural Resources Wales’ (NRW) concerns about potential flooding.
Officers also said a condition to restrict sleeping accommodation at ground-floor level was unenforceable.
But at this previous meeting, the committee voted in favour of the development, citing Conwy’s housing crisis.
Consequently, at the meeting this week, councillors were tasked with reaffirming their previous decision to approve the development, due to the committee going against planning officers’ advice to refuse.
Cllr Nigel Smith spoke in favour of the application, proposing the committee backed the scheme.
“I’m trying to weigh up in my head here. This is Llandudno town. It has got 20,000 residents and 10,000 properties in the area, many of whom are at risk of flooding,” he said.
“We’ve previously approved properties in the Llandudno area, and I think adjacent to the site there is a large social housing scheme.
“We are desperate for properties in Conwy, and to do the right thing by the people of Conwy, to refuse this would be very wrong. I’m very pleased that the NRW have decided they are not going to call this property in (to the planning inspectorate).
“So they clearly feel it is not a major risk in that case because if there was a severe risk to life and limb, they would be calling it in because that’s their job. So I’d be more than happy to propose that we carry on with what we decided last meeting, which was to approve the planning permission as it stood.”
Llandudno councillor Mandy Hawkins seconded the proposal. “Being a local member, we have got a need for houses, so I’m more than happy to second this,” she said.
Cllr Antony Bertola added: “It is a new home, which we need in the Llandudno and Conwy area. At the end of the day, it’s going to be a family home and in a great position. There’s a good school, the gym – the shops are there. It is ideal for a family or a couple.”
The committee voted in favour of the plans, subject to a 106 agreement proposed by Cllr Andrew Wood, meaning the developer must make a financial contribution to the council.
