A rejected proposal to build 175 homes on land at Oakdale Golf Club has been overturned by the Welsh Government, after developers appealed the decision.
Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee first turned down Persimmon Homes’ application in April 2016 on the grounds the local authority was consulting on a new Local Development Plan (LDP).
That draft plan was then withdrawn in July 2016 following vocal opposition from residents, leading the developer to appeal against the refusal, arguing the original reason for turning down the application no longer existed.
Following a report by the planning inspectorate, the Welsh Government Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths AM, has ruled the development can go ahead.
While the land at Oakdale Golf Club lies outside the settlement boundary indicated in the LDP, the inspector, Joanne Burston, wrote in her report she had received “insufficient substantive evidence” brownfield sites such as that of the former Oakdale Comprehensive School were available for development.
The inspector also did not consider the development to have an effect on road congestion, adding she had “no convincing evidence before me that the relatively small increase in additional traffic from the proposed development would result in any increase in risk to highway safety.”
In her decision letter, Ms Griffiths cited the Caerphilly County Borough Council’s lack of a five-year housing land supply as one of the key factors for the decision, in an all too familiar scenario for the local authority.
The 175-home development at Oakdale Golf Club will be the fourth one to have been upheld on appeal in 2017, after proposals at Pandy Road in Bedwas, Woodfield Park Lane in Penmaen, and Hendredenny Drive were also ruled on by the Welsh Government.
In each appeal, the council’s current 1.5-year housing land supply was an overriding reason for permission being granted.
That concern was reiterated by the planning inspector, who referred to previous appeals when making her decision.
She wrote: “There are clear similarities with the case before me in terms of the housing land supply issue. On noting the significant shortfall in housing delivery the decision makers have given considerable weight to the shortfall in the supply of housing land.
“Whilst each appeal should be determined on its own merits, the approach taken on the decisions brought to my attention generally support my findings on this matter.”
Cllr Roy Saralis, who represents the Penmaen ward for Labour, said: “The fears of all those residents of Oakdale who campaigned against this development will now become reality. Initially the development of 170 homes on this site will inevitably create safety problems, particularly for pupils attending Rhiw Syr Dafydd School.
“Site lorries will be passing the front of the school at all times of the day along an already busy narrow road over a period of approximately three years.
“Oakdale village is designated as a conservation area, this development can only have a harmful effect on that status. The democratic decision taken by the council to reject this application has been ignored. Planning decisions now appear to be in the control of Government inspectors.”
A spokesman for CCBC said: “The council has a valid LDP in place, however, we don’t currently have a five-year housing land supply.
“This was one of the main reasons for the review of the current LDP, which we agreed to defer pending the development of a regional Strategic Development Plan. These discussions are currently ongoing via the Cardiff Capital Region.
“The council considers each application received via the Planning Committee and one of the factors considered is the need for housing to meet the five-year housing land supply.
“A number of applications have been considered by the committee which, following their refusal, Welsh Government then overturned at appeal.”