Plans for 216-home development rejected

Proposals for a controversial 216-home development have been narrowly turned down by councillors despite their planning department recommending it for approval.

Several members of Swansea council’s planning committee were unhappy with the proposed access in Gowerton from the busy Fairwood Terrace-Victoria Road junction and the impact of extra traffic on an already congested road network.

Flooding, air pollution, loss of woodland, affordable housing provision and land stability concerns were also expressed.

The committee voted by five to four to reject the outline application by Persimmon Homes and Urban Style Land Ltd, and it will meet again to agree reasons for refusal which the council must be able to defend should there be an appeal.

Objections

A total of 881 letters were submitted to the planning department objecting to the application, plus a petition with 317 signatures. The local doctors’ surgery weighed in, saying it already had 20,080 patients and would struggle to cope with any more. Dozens of objectors with placards gathered at Fairwood Terrace when committee members visited the site on the morning of September 3.

The meeting that afternoon heard from a planning officer who said the development would include a park and ride hub with 50 parking spaces and 100-odd bike spaces to serve the adjacent Gowerton railway station, traffic lights at the Fairwood Terrace-Victoria Road T-junction, and a new pedestrian crossing on both roads. He said the planned estate of 67 flats and 149 two, three and four-bedroom houses – 22 of which would be affordable – would have some commercial units and new greenery although many existing trees would be lost. No statutory consultees such as Natural Resources Wales or the Coal Authority, he said, had objected. Photos were shown of Fairwood Terrace on different days at different times with relatively few parked cars.

An objector addressed the committee to say Victoria Road would not be able to accommodate extra traffic from a 216-home development and that, in objectors’ view, the benefits of cycling and walking and home-working had been “overstated”. He said some parts of the land in question were predicted to flood to depths of two metres. A small section at the far eastern end of the site was shown to have a flood risk but the committee was told that houses wouldn’t be built there.

‘Zero carbon’

A planning agent on behalf of the applicants said the “zero carbon” houses and flats wouldn’t need gas for heating and that Persimmon Homes would build the park and ride hub and set up a car-sharing club. Discussions with council highway officers, he said, had been “extensive and exhaustive” resulting in “safe, efficient and realistically achievable” proposals.

Gowerton councillors Dai Jenkins and Susan Jones spoke against the plans, saying the Victoria Road railway bridge near the junction with Fairwood Terrace was frequently hit by lorries, causing delays, that the estate should include a 20% affordable housing provision rather than the 10.2% outlined in the planning report, and that two recent house-building projects in Gowerton had reduced the overall amount of green space. Cllr Lyndon Jones, who represents a ward in Gower but has lived in Gowerton since the age of 11, said traffic should be reduced in the community not increased. “Anyone, when they think about Gowerton and travelling to Gowerton from any direction, one word comes to mind – gridlock,” he said.

The 21-acre site is part of a much larger chunk of land stretching east which has been allocated for residential and employment use. The committee heard that the bigger section, if developed, would include a new road leading to a large park and ride hub by the train station, but that only buses would be able to connect through to the smaller Fairwood Terrace estate.

Unsuitable

Cllr Peter Black said he believed Fairwood Terrace was unsuitable as an access point for the 216-home scheme and that he was “appalled” by the loss of the wooded site, despite some trees being part of the project. “Yes we do need houses but it seems to me that this is not an appropriate place,” he said. Cllr Mike Lewis asked why the affordable housing allocation was 10.2% while Cllr Mary Jones said she was very concerned about potential river flooding and the presence of former mine workings.

The planning officer said new trees would be planted at the estate and also on separate land under the applicants’ control. He added that ideally 20% of the homes should be affordable but that the applicants had demonstrated “abnormal” development costs, meaning 10.2% was felt to be acceptable. On the subject of congestion, he said: “We all accept that traffic in Gowerton can be bad – there’s no getting away from it. But adding time to journeys does not necessarily equate to a safety issue.” Another officer said an air quality assessment and modelling by the applicants complied with the guidance, and that nitrogen dioxide monitoring by the council did not show annual breaches.