Plans to build 260 houses in Hendredenny have been submitted despite developer Redrow not owning a crucial bit of access land.
An outline planning application to build the homes on green fields to the north of Hendredenny was submitted to Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Council officers have recommended selling a small piece of land to Redrow, not included in the plans, which is thought would be used for access.
Cabinet members deferred making a decision on the sale in March so they could visit the site.
Plaid Cymru Penyrheol councillors are opposed to the development.
Cllr Lindsay Whittle said: “We have been expecting this application to build homes on green fields.
“If approved, it will lead to far more vehicles entering and leaving Hendredenny Drive, particularly at peak times when it is often difficult to access the estate.
“The ward councillors are also concerned at the impact of a development of this size on local schools, the sewerage and water systems and on other community services, such as GP surgeries.
“The application is an outline planning application and we do not yet have full details of the proposed means of access to the site. We are very concerned that the access proposed will be through the existing estate road system.”
Cllr Steve Skivens, who is also the chair of the Penyrheol, Trecenydd and Energlyn Community Council, said: “Any further large scale development of housing will impact on traffic.
“Where is the strategy, where is the consultation and where is the identified need for these properties? This appears to be driven by a private company for commercial gain.
“I want to see an independent traffic survey, to inform on what improvements can be made to the current problems, which will also inform future decision making.”
A Redrow spokesperson said: “We have submitted the planning application for the land in Caerphilly and this is currently with the council.
“Caerphilly is one of the major towns in South Wales and therefore was very much on our radar for a development.”
Concerns have been raised about the number of developers wanting to build in the south of the county borough.
Cllr Whittle, who is also an Assembly Member for South East Wales, recently quizzed Communities Minister Lesley Griffiths about what efforts could be made to encourage developers to build houses in the mid and northern parts of the Caerphilly constituency.
He said: “Caerphilly’s local development plan (LDP) is under review yet again, and the council is inundated with hundreds of sites for new housing estates in the southern part of the constituency, and Caerphilly town, in particular. That town is now almost at gridlock at peak times.”
A Caerphilly County Borough Council spokesperson said: “As part of this review process the council is considering the release of a number of new sites across the whole county borough, all of which will be the subject of further consultation early in 2016.”
Now we`ll see if there is enough`backbone` on show to be able to measure it, or will we see piles of `crumbled bodies all over the floor in the Council chamber as opposition to these plans, and backbones, disipate.
The answer to any consultation will be a clear ‘No!’ to this further destruction of farm land and habitat for wild creatures. Whether this clear message will be listened to is another matter.
Sounds like Caerphilly Council stand to make a large profit by selling a ransom strip to Redrow and will also bank over £1million in Community Infrastructure Levy from the development, they’re not about to say no to that are they.
With all of these Plaid and Labour councillors against the development there should be no problem in blocking it. That is, of course, unless their criticisms had something to do with May’s election.
The majority of planning applications are determined by the Head of Regeneration & Planning unless a County Councillor requests that the Planning Committee determines an application.
As 80% of the Planning Committee are Labour Councillors, it stands to reason that having this application rejected should not be issue. But why am I not convinced, even though our local Labour Councillors have come out against the proposed development. This application and the proposed access to the field from Hendredenny should have been put to bed months ago.
The sad fact is that people continue to vote for these people to represent us based upon their party allegiances.