Village housing plan to be decided by county council

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

A request that Powys County Council’s Planning Committee decide plans for eight houses in Middletown has been made by a senior councillor.

In June, fresh plans were lodged with Powys planners by Dave Davies of Ashvale Contracting Limited to build eight homes with the associated access and drainage works for land west of Penyfoel Farm.

The proposal is for seven three-bedroom properties and one four-bedroom property. Two of the three-bedroom properties would be earmarked for affordable homes.

The principle of developing the site was agreed by Powys planners five years ago in 2020 when they agreed an outline planning application for the site.

However, it has become a struggle to get to a point where building homes on the site is allowed.

A reserved-matters planning application lodged by Mr Davies in 2023 was rejected by Powys planners in September 2024 on several grounds including “unjustified and unsustainable development in the open countryside”, and an “inadequate level of affordable housing would be provided by the development”.

In August 2023, a previous smaller application for five dwellings on the site had also been rejected by Powys planners.

Cllr Amanda Jenner (Conservative), who represents the Trelystan and Trewern Ward, which includes Middletown, said: “I would like to call in this application due to the history of previous planning applications at this site and concerns about the access into the site.”

Trewern Community Council discussed the application at a meeting in July and said: “We do not have any objections at this stage, but would like to ask for clarification on a few points.”

They said that they want to know what the difference between this and previous applications is and “particularly in relation” to development in the open countryside.

Planning agent, Lewis Williams of Hughes Architects, explained the new application in a planning statement.

Mr Williams said: “The house types presented as part of this application aim to assimilate into the varying and naturally evolved context of the surrounding area and by utilising traditional materials, will align themselves to the more immediate context of the existing farmhouse.

“The dwellings will be two storeys, with pitched roofs and will be a mixture of detached and semi-detached properties offering opportunities to a broad market.

“The designs include traditional styled porches as well as traditional fenestration to again reflect the character of the existing farmhouse and surrounding properties.

“Whilst traditional in appearance, the dwellings will be constructed to be highly efficient and will include sustainable technologies such as solar panels which will ensure the properties are as economical as possible for users.”

Parking provision is for one space per bedroom with a maximum of three per house, not including garage space.

Electric vehicle (EV) charging points will also be included as part of the proposal.

Mr Williams added: “It is worth noting that the site was granted outline planning for eight dwellings.

“This well-considered and policy-compliant proposal represents a valuable addition to the local area and should be supported.”

A decision on the application is expected soon.