Residents in Hendy have met to discuss an ongoing planning issue on land to the rear of Clayton Road.
Residents of Clos Benallt Fawr and residents bordering on the new Bronallt Road development are united in their determination to put a stop to over-development in Hendy. At a meeting last night, Thursday (Apr 5) they discussed the difficulties of opposing applications for more houses if the site in question is already designated for development in the County Council ‘s Local Development Plan. This was cited as the main reason why, in spite of the very best efforts by local residents to oppose the development on Bronallt Road, permission was given for eight houses. And whilst the application for housing accessed through Clos Benallt Fawr has been turned down, those opposed to the development fear that the developers will now try and appeal that decision.
Residents are now calling on those who share their concerns to respond by 29th May to the County Council’s consultation on the new Local Development Plan (LDP) because once an area is designated as a possible development area in the LDP, there will usually be a presumption in favour of giving consent to any planning applications on that land.
Frank Allen MBE also contacted Llanelli Online to highlight his concerns ahead of the public meeting with Nia Griffith MP.
Mr Allen said that he had concerns over potential flooding from the new development and the possibility of subsidence given that a lot of the land was a former colliery excavation site. Mr Allen also claims that work has begun on an area of land, which had not been given planning consent and that large deposits of earth and root material was being dumped on land to the rear of his home.
He claims that the land to the rear of Clayton Road had planning for 8 homes granted in September 2017 although the developers (Greenway Homes) had initially applied to build 40 homes but planning officers turned that application down.
Residents quickly took to social media to report the disturbance to wildlife including door mice and newts. The residents claim that a similar tactic was used at the Llwynbedw estate in Hendy where they claim a road access was put in ready for the further houses before an application for planning consent had been established.
Following the public meeting Nia Griffith MP commented: “This is a very important message not just for Hendy but for everyone to look at the green and brown field sites around us and let the County know what we would or would not like to see there. Although the County Council has warm words on its website about us getting involved, hardly anyone knows about this and the May deadline is fast approaching. I will be asking the Council’s forward planning department if they could make the website form more user friendly and I will ask Council bosses to is better.”
We contacted Carmarthenshire County Council and asked for a statement regarding the claims being made by Frank Allen MBE.
We had not received a response at the time of publication.
