Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 26th April 2007 at the Village Centre, Gwernymynydd.

Chairman:  Councillor K. Taylor (Vice Chairman)

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Members of the Public, the main issue of their concern being the planning application submitted for the development at Siglen Ucha, Ruthin Road, Gwernymynydd.

1.         Apologies for Absence

            Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mrs. E. Parry (Chairman)
            and PC. G. Aldous

2.         To Approve the Minutes of the March Meeting

            The Minutes of the above had been distributed and were confirmed as a true record of the business transacted at the meeting.

3.         Matters Arising from the Minutes

Councillor Mrs N. Matthews and Councillor E. Owens updated the Council with reference to the setting up/organising of a Youth Council for the community. At a meeting in the Village Centre 16 youths (age range 11 to 15, girls and boys) and 2 officers from the Youth and Community Department of Flintshire County Council discussed the needs of the village youths, the setting up of a Youth Council and the re-establishment of a Youth Club. Councillors Mrs. N. Matthews and E. Owens informed the Council that the meeting was well received with positive and progressive decisions being made by both the youngsters and Council officers.

            Councillor K. Taylor again raised the issue of the debris strewn and overgrown state of the former Carmel Chapel site, Ruthin Road, A 494. The Clerk reported that he had received a letter from Flintshire County Council confirming that the Authority would now be maintaining the area on behalf of the North Wales Trunk Road Agency.
 
            Councillors again raised the issue of vehicles parking in front of the NPFA gates; the Clerk was requested to pursue with Flintshire County Council the action of painting yellow hatching lines on the road access.

           With respect to the proposal to add extra street lights on the Gwernaffield Road,       A 494 junction the Clerk reported that he had contacted Deeco Lighting about the proposal and in reply the Company related that they were awaiting a response on the feasibility of the project from Manweb/Scottish Power.

            The Clerk reported to the Council the estimated costs of relocating the black and white Gwernymynydd village road sign from its present position to a site in Cadole. With regard to the condition of the sign Councillor C. Jackson reported to the Members that he had cleaned/refurbished the sign and as such there should be no problem in re-locating it in Cadole. The Clerk was requested to pursue the matter with Flintshire County Council.

4.         Gwernymynydd Community Development Plan

            The Members discussed in outline the subject of a Community Development Plan; the Council intends to take the initiative as to what is best for the village through a consultation process with the community. Councillor C. Bradshaw presented to the Members a consultative document he and Councillor E. Owens had worked on for discussion in Council, see attached. Following further discussions it was resolved that Councillor C. Bradshaw would take the lead on the Plan and to be ably assisted by Councillors E. Owens and T. Barley. The Development Plan to be a continuous Agenda Item in order for it to progress.

5.         Reports

            1.         Police Matters
                       
With reference to an environmental audit carried out by Councillor Mrs N. Matthews and Constable Aldous items of concern which needed attention, were forwarded to the Clerk and acted upon. Councillor Mrs. N. Matthews on behalf of PC Aldous informed the Members the progress made with regard to the Police Action Plan for the area and the issues relating to traffic; the reported incidents in Cadole and Loggerheads being the main concerns along with the road safety problem reported by Councillor C. Bradshaw,             schoolchildren crossing the A 494 near to the Village Centre.

With reference to the recently held North Wales Police and Town/Community and County Council liaison meeting Councillor C. Bradshaw gave a full report to the Members. The report is attached for reference.

2.         Outside Bodies

            With reference to the Village Centre Management Committee,
            Councillor K. Taylor provided an update of information for the Members. Councillor Taylor also reported that a concert will be held at the Centre on the 21st June 2007 to raise funds for the National Eisteddfod.

            Councillor G. Morris gave a full account to the Council on the recently held Aberduna Quarry Liaison Committee, the report is attached for reference.

            With regard to the National Eisteddfod, Gwernymynydd, Fund Raising Committee, Councillor Taylor informed the Council that the hard working Committee members had exceeded the target amount set for them and that fund raising events were still being organised within the village, the next event in a few weeks time will be a Barbeque.

            Councillor E. Owens reported to the Council the salient points of the recently held Gwernymynydd CP School Governors meeting. The numbers of schoolchildren attending the school were improving and financially the school was on a good footing. Four CCTV cameras had been fitted and security wise the school was well protected.

3.         Sub-Committees

                        There were no items for discussion.

4.        A494, Gwernymynydd/Cadole    

            The letter from Flintshire County Council regarding the former Carmel Chapel was received by the Council.

5.        Complaints received by Councillors        

            Councillor T. Barley reported that one of the telegraph poles in Cadole was in an unsafe condition, the pole was identified as 56 (1A) and located in the Village Road.

6.         Correspondence

            Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were received by the Council.   

            With reference to item 6; North Wales Police Authority, neighbourhood policing, a meeting arranged to take place at 7.00 PM on the 29th May 2007 at Theatr Clwyd, Councillors C. Bradshaw and K. Taylor to attend.
                
7.         Late Correspondence

            The following information was received by the Council:-   

            An invite from the Mayor of Mold to attend a ‘Race Night’ fund raising event for the National Eisteddfod; A letter of reply from Eagles and Crawford with regard to the uncertain future of the Gwernymynydd Post Office located at the Rainbow Garage; A letter of thanks from the Gwernymynydd, National Eisteddfod, Fund Raising Committee for the kind donation given by the Council.

            Councillor Mrs. N. Matthews informed the Council that with regard to the complaints received concerning the grass verge located at Llys Enfys, Flintshire County Council were willing to maintain the area as the ownership and responsibility for maintenance were at this time unknown.

8.         Planning Matters

Ref: KSS/043076; Demolition of existing buildings and residential development of 24 dwellings and associated works  including ground remodelling, located on land off Ruthin Road, Gwernymynydd.

The Chairman informed everyone that he would take the observations of the Councillors first and then open up the meeting in order to hear the concerns of the public.

The Members of the Council unanimously resolved to object to this re-submitted proposal for the following reasons.

1. The application proposes a residential development on a site which lies outside the present designated Gwernymynydd Village Envelope; this constitutes building in open countryside and breaches the concept of a green belt.

2. Access/egress to and from the site is on the busy A 494 Trunk Road, there is the hazard of speeding vehicles ignoring the 40 mph limit, the road is well used by heavy goods vehicles carrying stone from the nearby quarries and there have been numerous accidents at this location. The Atkin’s Report on the previous submission lists few road traffic accidents near to the proposed site; the Council again disputes this because police records only indicate situations where it has been necessary for them to attend the accident, the Council emphasizes the statement that there have been numerous road traffic incidents in this location. The access/egress point is opposite to the Twmpath lane which houses 12 dwellings, it is near to the brow of the hill and a bend resulting in poor vision in both directions along the Trunk Road. The additional vehicle movements that would be caused by the development would exacerbate an already hazardous traffic situation.

3. The proposal is for 24 houses on a small site; this development would result in overcrowding and would be detrimental to the rural character of Gwernymynydd village. The proposed houses are too close together and would result in insufficient space to accommodate the parking of 2 or more cars. Visitors to the houses would only be able to park on the busy A 494 Trunk Road. In addition to this by calculation each of the 24 plots would measure 400 square metres, this is too small a footprint to accommodate the designed houses plus utilities.

4. There would be a problem of surface water run-off to neighbouring properties, particularly to the Haulage Yard which already suffers from flooding. The building of 24 houses would exacerbate the problem.

5. It is anticipated that there would be a problem with the foul water system, to service an additional 24 houses on an already overstretched main would inevitably cause problems on the existing sewers.

6. Concerns are expressed with regard to underlying mine shafts and the stability of the ground area to accommodate the proposed number of houses.

7. The site is near to the AONB, the proposed development would be visually intrusive on the landscape. In this application the developer completely alters the existing landscape to crowd in the 24 houses. The 2 blocks of 3-storey terraced dwellings would tower above Ruthin Road (A 494) and would be completely out of character with the locality.

8. The contour levels outlined in the development dictate a 6 metre height differential between the houses at the east end of the site and the haulage yard and its neighbouring properties. This will result in an unacceptable, overlook and lack of privacy situation to those properties.

9. The proposed development infers that the Flintshire County Council UDP will be accepted in full however with reference to HSG 9 of the UDP document paragraph 11.59 now states that it does not necessarily need 25 houses to be built for the developer to provide 30% of the total for affordable housing. There is no provision for affordable houses in the proposal. More importantly, the UDP has not yet been fully accepted.

10. The previous application showed that a large retaining wall was to be built at one end of the site, what will be used to retain the ground? There is no mention of the wall the size of which with a house built on top would overshadow the neighbouring property and alter the topography of the village and as such would be unacceptable.

11. The application suggests that the proposed development site is a brownfield site, the Council contests this statement, Siglen Uchaf was a small holding.

12. Previous decisions taken on applications to develop Siglen Uchaf have insisted that the front façade of the dwelling had to be retained to keep within the local character of the village, this proposal does not consider this aspect, it refers to complete demolition of a property of local village character.

13. The neighbouring Haulage Yard is a flourishing well respected business; the developer’s proposal will seriously jeopardize that business.

14. The development does not accommodate an open space/play area facility which is contrary to Flintshire County Council’s planning policy.

The Council respectfully requests of Flintshire County Council that its observations on the proposal be earnestly considered and that the decision process is not undertaken by delegated powers. This application needs to be fully examined with the views of the local community taken to heart as the Council is voicing what the village is saying.

The Community Council and residents in the village of Gwernymynydd confirmed their refusal of the application and the Clerk was requested to respond accordingly to Flintshire County Council.

9.         Finance

            Payments were authorised and cheques signed totalling £1,063.94

            Chairman......................................................................................................................

Payments authorised at the meeting held on the 26th April 2007.