Plans for homes on site of school approved
PLANS for 127 homes on the site of the old Bryn Castell School in Bridgend have been approved. The Persimmon Homes development comprises a mix of two-, three- and fourbedroom homes in Llangewydd Road.
Instead of providing affordable homes on the site, the developer is paying £1.4m as part of a Section 106 agreement towards meeting the need in the area.
The development has led to concerns from residents over traffic management, with hundreds of extra car movements on a daily basis. There were also safety concerns from those living next to the site.
Four homes in Llangewydd Road are in a cul-de-sac which is being opened up to provide an entrance into the development. While a pavement will be placed on one side of their road, residents will have no pavement on the side of their homes.
Instead a lay-by is being created on the side of the four properties for three vehicles.
One mum of two told councillors at a Bridgend Council planning meeting that she is worried about the safety of her children as a result of the lack of pavement and has applied for vehicle access to her property.
Jessica Hemming faces having to pay out thousands of pounds in order to put the driveway in front of her house and a dropped kerb.
She said: “Without a doubt, we need a pavement on both sides of the road, not only for us as residents but also for the children and families who walk to school this way, both to Cefn Glas Infants and Bryntirion Comprehensive.
“I understand that my neighbours have also applied for vehicle access – it is unfair that we have to find the funds to install not only an expensive drop curb but a driveway to our property as a result of this development.
“I fear that this new access road is an accident waiting to happen and only when it does will things change.”
At the meeting Councillor John Spanswick said it seemed the four houses “were being sold down the river” for the benefit of Persimmon.
He said: “There’s going to be hundreds of cars whizzing past, there’s no safe way to cross that road.”
Planning officers said the homes were outside of the site development and highways officers had no objections.
However, at one point the development control committee meeting on Thursday was suspended to enable the developer and council officers to see if they could provide a pavement.
Planning officers said they would explore with the developer an option of moving the entrance slightly so it would go into a council-owned verge which would then create enough space for a pavement in addition to the lay-by outside the four properties.
Planning officers described the situation of pausing the meeting to allow for the discussion “highly unusual”.
Ward councillor David White said it was testament to “people power”.
And Councillor Matthew Voisey, who requested the pause to see if a solution could be found, said it showed the council cared for the “small minorities”.
Councillors also raised concerns over the schools in the area, which are “oversubscribed and overcrowded”.
Persimmon is providing £540,000 towards the provision of secondary school and post-16 places serving the development.
Councillors approved the plans subject to conditions by nine votes to three.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr White said: “I would like to thank the councillors on the planning committee, officers and Persimmon Homes for listening to their argument and working together to find a way forward that will result in those who use the pavement being safer.”