Language concerns scupper 266 houses
CONTROVERSIAL plans to build 266 houses in Bangor were postponed after new information was received about their possible effect on the Welsh language.
The plans had been recommended for approval by council officers ahead of a crunch planning meeting with councillors on Monday.
Gwynedd Council planning officers had originally recommended approving the bid by Redrow Homes ahead of a meeting in Dolgellau last month.
But, after opposition by councillors, the plans were set for a “cooling off period’ to carry out further assessments of their impact on the Welsh language, traffic and services in the area.
The application, which received planning permission for 245 houses in Penrhosgarnedd in 2013, to build an extra 21 properties on the plot, has sparked opposition from locals and councillors. A third of them should be affordable units.
The extra 21 houses will be one and two-bedroomed homes.
Today, planning manager Gareth Jones told the meeting in Caernarfon that the council had only received the information today from an objector and the officers had not had an opportunity to consider it.
He said that, in fairness to the objector and the applicant, the decision should be postponed and a new report prepared for the councillors.
Previously, Councillor John Wyn Williams, who represents the Pentir ward on Gwynedd Council, said: “I’ll be opposing the plans. I think Penrhos has had more than its fair share of housing developments.
“The plans will bring additional traffic to the area and will have an effect on the community and the Welsh language.”
But in his report to the committee meeting today, council planning manager Gareth Jones warned that to refuse the application called Goytre Uchaf “without strong evidence” would incur the risk of substantial financial costs of “tens of thousands of pounds” against the council.
He said: “It is believed that there is no evidence to justify refusing the application on the grounds of over provision of houses, a detrimental effect on the Welsh language or based on transport matters.”
He recommended that councillors delegate the right to him to approve the application subject to “favourable observations” from Welsh Water and the applicant signing an amended Section 106 Agreement to ensure that seven additional affordable houses for general local need are provided.
Residents moved into around 50 of the houses on the site in December last year while others are still being built.
In December of last year, separate plans by developers Morbaine to build 366 homes at nearby Pen y Ffridd in Penrhosgarnedd were thrown out by the council’s planning committee over claims that the scheme would have a “detrimental” effect on the Welsh language.