Villagers told to expect more housing

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Arguments that a village is small and doesn’t have the facilities to absorb a large affordable housing development failed to sway Powys County councillors, who voted unanimously to approve the scheme.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Planning committee, councillors discussed plans by SJ Construction Ltd to build 30 affordable homes at land west of Oakland, Crew Green (pictured).

The firm is working with Barcud Housing Association on the proposals.

Principal Planning Officer, Richard Edwards, recommended that councillors approve the proposal but villagers and Bausley with Criggion Community Council, which covers Crew Green, have come out against the proposals for a variety of reasons.

They say it is in the wrong place, does not meet local need, is in a village that is unable to absorb a large development and has no local amenities apart from primary school.

Bausley with Criggion councillor, Caroline Travis, explained that 25 years ago Crew Green was elevated in council development plans to “large village status”.

Cllr Travis said: “No one realised the significance of this until the large village status was quoted as a positive for this application.

“After submitting compelling evidence proving that we are indeed a small village with no amenities, Powys accepted our challenge and Crew Green will be reclassified to a tier four rural settlement.”

This means that in the replacement LDP (Local Development Plan) that Powys council is currently formulating, Crew Green would be classed as a smaller village.

Cllr Travis continued: “Although this decision will not be formally applied until 2026, it clearly indicates the continued argument by developers that Crew Green is a large village is gone.”

She said that that the community council felt that the need for local housing was being “misrepresented in the application” and only one of 51 on the Powys housing register and four of 41 on the Tai Teg register had Crew Green as its first choice.

Cllr Travis said that the council had also achieved 99% of its target for building affordable homes during the lifetime of the current LDP ((2011 – 2026).

Cllr Travis added that the community council had supported affordable home applications for sites closer to the centre of the village which had “delivered and exceeded” the local need.

Other community councillors argued that development should be rejected due to road safety issues, they said that the current speed limit of 50mph in this part of the village will be the subject of a consultation on proposals to drop it to 40mph in the future.

Planning Agent, Mike Lloyd, said: “The adopted development plan makes it clear that Crew Green is designated a large village and is able to accommodate larger affordable housing schemes.

“The sustainability of the site is supported; there is mention of it being reclassified – a full draft plan has yet to emerge.”

Geraint Roberts of Barcud added that he had checked the housing register “earlier this week” and found seven applicants had Crew Green as their first choice and 94 as second or “following” preferred choice.

Cllr Garth E Jones (Powys Independents – Llanelwedd) asked what would be the impact of changing the classification of Crew Green from a large village to smaller settlement.

Mr Edwards said: “We have to consider this under the current LDP, and it is classified as a large village. The replacement LDP is not adopted policy.”

Cllr Huw Williams (Labour – Abercraf and Ystradgynlais) believed that the application needed to be “put to the test” and proposed voting to agree with officer recommendations and approve the proposal.

A vote was held and all 11 councillors in the meeting voted to approve the scheme.