PLANS for 35 houses near an industrial estate in Hirwaun have been given the go ahead by councillors.
The application for land to the west of Bryngelli Industrial Estate on Meadow Lane was passed by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s planning committee on Thursday, April 20.
The application first came to planning committee in December but it was deferred so a more detailed noise impact assessment could be done to assess the impact of the existing industrial estate upon potential future occupiers of the proposed houses and to ensure that the location of the houses would not adversely affect the operation of existing industrial/commercial units.
Planning officers recommended it for approval saying: “In light of the findings of the Noise Assessment Addendum report and given the lack of objection from the Council’s Public Health and Protection team and the lack of any evidence to the contrary, it is considered that suitable mitigation measures can be implemented to ensure that the operation of the existing industrial estate would not have a detrimental impact upon the amenity of future occupiers of the proposed dwellings.”
But a further objection was received from a planning consultant which represented the views of an existing business on the industrial estate.
The objection refers to the Noise Addendum report and its findings, with concern being raised with regards to a number of inconsistencies within the addendum report.
The objection further considers that the report has failed to adequately assess the potential noise impact on the proposed dwellings from the immediately adjacent industrial estate.
There is a section 106 agreement to secure affordable housing and a number of conditions too with a few amendments.
The development would include eight three-bed detached properties including one affordable property, seven four-bed detached properties, 10 three-bed semi-detached properties including three affordable properties, two two-bed bungalows which are set to be both affordable housing and eight one-bed flats which are all set to be affordable.
The site was previously occupied by an industrial unit, the former Ferrari’s Bakery, but the report said this appeared to have been demolished in recent years.
There were a total of eight letters of objection received, three of these from the same planning consultancy and one from Hirwaun and Penderyn Community Council.
They raised concerns about the impact on the amenity and privacy of existing and future residents, the impact on the commercial units, highways issues, the impact on the existing employment areas, drainage and affordable housing.
A further consultation was carried out when amended plans were received including further improvements to Meadow Lane to overcome objections received from the council’s highways and transportation section in relation to the original plans submitted.
A total of four additional letters of objection were received, with the authors of three of these letters also being the authors of the letters submitted following the original consultation exercise.
The report said that the majority of the concerns raised reiterated the comments outlined above, however additional concerns were raised over the access and speeding.
In the original report which came before committee in December, the planning officers said: “The proposal would provide a number of affordable units which would address an identified need within the Hirwaun area. Whilst the development would inevitably result in the loss of an employment site, the site has been vacant for at least 10 years and its redevelopment would therefore result in a vast improvement to the visual aesthetics of the site and the surrounding area.
“The scheme also includes a number of improvements to Meadow Lane. The redevelopment of the site for residential purposes is acceptable in principle.
“Further, it is considered the site is capable of accommodating 35 no. dwellings as proposed without resulting in a significant impact upon the character and appearance of the surrounding area or the amenity and privacy of the surrounding properties. It is also considered the proposed development would have no undue impact upon highway safety in the vicinity of the site.”
Local councillors Adam Rogers and Karen Morgan raised concern over the loss of a site which is allocated for employment use in the Local Development Plan and highways concerns including issues over the access.
Cllr Morgan said members had recently approved and signed up to the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Well-Being Plan where one objective was to promote healthy local neighbourhoods and live lives locally adding that if they were truly serious about this they needed to protect and support sites which were capable of providing employment on their doorstep, promoting active travel and reducing their carbon footprint.
She said that once these sites were gone they were gone for good.
Councillor Gareth Hughes, a member of the planning committee, said he believed his original concerns about the potential noise impact on future residents had been dealt with.
He said he understood the concerns of local members but he said in his opinion use as a supermarket wasn’t comparable with the use of 35 houses and that a supermarket and garage would see far more trip generation.
He said the site had been empty for 10 years and he thought the development would be an enhancement to what was there and that they were desperate for additional homes for people.
Councillor Danny Grehan, also a member of the committee, said he was worried about losing an industrial area and although it hadn’t been used for 10 years that was not to say there wouldn’t be any further developments in the future that wanted to come to the area.
