Developer granted more time to come up with detailed plans for major housing scheme

Nicholas Thomas, local democracy reporter

A developer has been granted more time to come up with detailed plans for a major housing scheme, despite concerns about the effect on people living nearby.

The redevelopment of Caerphilly’s old Virginia Park Golf Club has been plagued by delays owing to Covid-19 and complex land preparation works, councillors have heard.

Workers need to make sure the site, which was a rubbish tip until 1963, is “satisfactorily remediated for future residents” before up to 350 homes can be built there.

But people living near the development said the protracted works are having a negative impact on the community.

The project is still far from completion despite initial planning permission being granted in 2019.

Extension

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee met on Wednesday September 11 to hear arguments for and against granting a two-year extension to applicant Withey Developments for the south of the site.

A council report shows that one of several objectors felt the ongoing work at Virginia Park had “disrupted lives of local residents for five years already – including flood damage, dust, odour and noise pollution”.

Others complained the land was “not suitable for building on”, or that the construction of up to 350 homes will be an “overdevelopment [which] impacts on infrastructure”.

Ward councillor Shayne Cook told the committee “residents do not want an extension of time”.

They feared the project would “drag on longer” or be left in “limbo”, he added.

Issues

In a report, council planners said they “appreciated” issues with the timescale but could only give “limited weight” to those concerns.

Complaints about the suitability of the land, or overdevelopment, had already been considered when outline planning permission was granted in 2019, they explained.

Highlight Planning’s Joe Ayoubkhani, speaking on behalf of the developer, said delays at Virginia Park were due to the Covid pandemic, which struck just as remediation works started.

“The development is on track”, he said, adding that the new homes would be “safe and high quality” and “deliver much-needed housing” for the town.

Committee member Cllr Greg Ead said the application was “complex”, and objections over the timescale of the development were “valid”.

Affordable housing

Cllr Mike Adams said there had been initial enthusiasm for the project, and there was a “great need for the housing” it would provide.

But he told colleagues he was disappointed to hear the developer would only be offering 7% affordable housing.

“We need many, many more,” he added.

Carwyn Powell, the council’s team leader development manager, said the local authority “should bite their hands off” if developers committed to building affordable homes, as in this case.

In his experience, the council had never achieved its target of securing 40% affordable homes from an open-market developer, he added.

The committee agreed unanimously to grant the two-year extension, after Cllr Cook warned a refusal could end up triggering a legal spat with the developer.

“It is highly likely that we could end up in an appeal situation or indeed some form of legal action, both of which we have been informed we would lose,” he said in a written statement to the committee.