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MEETING WITH PONTHIR COMMUNITY COUNCILLORS 15/2/06: Outline Planning Application [05/P/11806E] for LLANFRECHFA GRANGE Rob Crowshaw & Chris Kirby Time 7:45 on Thursday 15th February 2006 at Ponthir Village Hall Introduction
Good evening, and thank you for inviting us here to talk to you. My name is Rob Crowshaw. I live in Llanfrechfa, and I’m a member of FLAG - the Friends of Llanfrechfa Action Group.
This meeting is primarily to keep you informed of the wider issues surrounding the Outline Planning Application - which is for the first 400 out of an expected total of 600 residential properties to be built on the Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital site. Jenny Nancarrow has been keeping up to date with it – she has, I think, attended pretty much all of the Public Meetings and Liaison Group Meetings so far.
We recently made a similar presentation to the Llanyrafon and Croesyceiliog Community Councillors who, as a consequence, will be inviting us to speak at a Public Meeting they are going to arrange in the Llanyrafon Social Club with the aim of informing local residents about how the development might affect them.
Now, I have some interesting information to share with you today - so I’ve written it down to keep it as brief and as clear as possible. I can leave copies of my talk with you, if you’d like, to take away with you afterwards. There’s quite a lot to get through – it’ll take about 15 minutes - so it might be easiest if I run through all of the points I have and then open it up for questions and discussions at the end. I can return to any of the points I’ve made and try to explain them better if you’d like me to, at the end.
I am pleased to be able to talk to you today. I’m here because the more I find out about this development, the more I begin to realise how much it doesn’t just affect Llanfrechfa, but that it has wider implications much further afield.
I’ve spoken to many of the local residents – mainly in Llanfrechfa, but also in Ponthir, Llanyrafon and Croesyceiliog – either on the phone or in person when I was out and about in the villages helping to deliver FLAG leaflets. So I know first hand the strength of the opposition to the development, and also the support there is for some of the more positive aspects of the development – such as the need for local affordable housing and the potential lifeline it might prove to be for Ponthir school.
I have been impressed by the close community spirit in Ponthir, and the community facilities you have here. We don’t have this to nearly the same extent in Llanfrechfa, but it is something which we feel is important to develop in the future.
So, about the Outline Planning Application
By way of a little background to the application, back in May, just a small handful of residents living along Caerleon Road opposite the Hospital received letters from Torfaen Planners. These were letters of notification that an outline planning application had been received from DTZ Consulting, on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales and Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust. The application was for the development of the first 400 residential units to be built on the hospital site (out of a total of 600 units planned for the site) together with associated access roads. Objections were invited in writing within 21 days of the letter.
It became apparent that the extent of the consultation and the period for response were inadequate for such a major development which would have such a devastating impact on everyone in Llanfrechfa - and serious knock-on effects for communities for miles around.
As you realise, not enough people had been notified and not enough time was left to make their objections. Indeed, the Llanyrafon and Croesyceiliog Community Councillors weren’t even consulted originally.
FLAG was set up by concerned members of the communities and is open to everyone who is worried about the detrimental effects that the proposed development will have on the villages of Llanfrechfa, Llanyrafon, Croesyceiliog, Ponthir and further afield.
FLAG has distributed letters, leaflets and newsletters throughout the whole of Llanfrechfa, parts of Llanyrafon and Ponthir with the aim of notifying as many people as possible in the area about the proposed development.
We have also written letters of complaint and letters of objection, and held a number of different meetings with David Davies, Margaret Pead and Torfaen Planning and Highways - with the aim of getting the consultation period extended, so that everyone can have a fair chance to make their objections.
This we have achieved.
The consultation period for sending objections in writing to County Hall has now been officially extended - so we’ve still got a chance to have our say. We should make the most of this opportunity, and encourage as many people as possible to write in with their objections.
FLAG has prepared a standard letter of objection to the proposal, to be of help, which summarises the causes for concern that FLAG has identified - which I will briefly summarise for you later in this meeting.
Here is a copy for each of you. The letter allows you to simply fill in your name and address, then sign and date that letter and send it into County Hall as the basis for your objections. You can cross out any points in the letter you disagree with and add any comments of your own at the end.
Alternatively, people can of course still write their own letters and send them in.
So why do we find ourselves in this situation?
Now, I’m going to explain why we find ourselves here – from the land becoming available at the Grange, then being allocated for housing in the Local Plan, through to the Outline Planning Application that’s been submitted to Torfaen Planners at County Hall.
What I’m about to tell you is only my understanding of the situation – it may not be absolutely correct, but it is how I understand it to be.
A number of years ago, Gwent Health NHS Trust determined, for their own reasons, that they would no longer have a longer term need for part of the land on the Grange Hospital site.
Even though there are acres of beautiful parkland at the Grange, which some may think would make it a greenfield site, there are a handful of hospital buildings on the site, which means it has been designated as a brownfield site. So, as you know, when the present Torfaen Local Plan was put together, part of the site was earmarked for 400 residential housing units, which was agreed by an Inspector, after considering any objections which might have been raised against it back then.
So the situation we now find ourselves in is that the land at the Grange has transferred in ownership from Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust - because they were deemed to no longer need it - to an organisation within the National Assembly for Wales called Welsh Health Estates who are tasked with disposing of the land – in other words selling it for the best possible price to developers. That’s why the National Assembly for Wales and Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust are both named as applicants on the outline application. . At the Grange, the number of resident patients at the hospital is down from several hundred to around 40 at present. We understand that the Trust intends to relocate these remaining patients into a number of special purpose properties around Gwent within the next 12 months. Their treatment and wellbeing is a major concern to many of us.
We also understand that the Hydrotherapy pool, currently used by hundreds of people each week, will be ‘reprovided’ – which we understand to mean that a suitable alternative will be provided somewhere else without loss of care provision to the present users. But we are concerned about this, too.
Whilst there is a local belief that the hospital land has been left in perpetuity for the benefit of the community, Welsh Health Estates tell us that there are no restrictive covenants on the land. We’re still looking into this as a separate matter and anything you can tell us or find out about it would be extremely helpful
On top of all this, there is still some discussion and uncertainty as to whether the site is currently being considered as a potential location for a new hospital under the Clinical Futures programme. We understand that whilst this is unlikely, it has not yet been ruled out.
So, what land will be affected?
If you look at these handouts, you will see a map of the local area. This is taken from the Torfaen Local Plan. In the centre of the page you’ll see the Grange site, with the dark areas labelled S1/9 and S1/10, sticking out into the countryside.
If you look at the handouts, you will see a map of the local area. This is taken from the Torfaen Local Plan. In the centre of the page you’ll see the Grange site, with the dark areas labelled S1/9 and S1/10, sticking out into an area of countryside designated in the Local Plan as Special Landscape Area.
The total Grange site is around 70 acres in total.
The dark area labelled S1/9 and S1/10 is the land that the present outline application actually relates to – which is around 40 acres in total – and has been allocated in the Local Plan to have 400 residential units built on there.
Just to the right of the areas labelled S1/9 and S1/10 on the map is a white area bordered by a thick, black line - which is the Urban Boundary line. This white area [see map] is around 20 acres and includes the Grange house and walled gardens – which is a Grade II listed building – the laundry and some woodland.
This area has not been allocated for housing in the current Local Plan because there was a longer term need for the laundry – but there is an intention to relocate the laundry and have this part of the site allocated for more housing in Torfaen’s forthcoming LDP (Local Development Plan), currently under preparation. There is talk of another 200 houses going on there. So that’s where the figure of 600 houses comes from.
The Grange site also includes two fields just to the north of the Urban Boundary line [see map] – around 10 acres – which falls outside the Urban Boundary in an area of Special Landscape. We suspect that there may be developer interest to build houses there too.
And we understand that the WDA (The Welsh Development Agency Land Division) own all of the fields surrounding the site [see map] – which also lie outside the Urban Boundary in the area of Special Landscape - and that they have already made enquiries into the possibility of developing that land.
We also understand that other developers may already have options on the land all the way up to the Crematorium [see map]. All this land falls outside the Urban Boundary and is currently designated as being Special Landscape Area.
Can you see the emerging picture? DTZ help paint the picture by spelling out the following points in the Outline Application:
They suggest that any forthcoming proposals for the Llanfrechfa Grange should take account of changes in thinking in terms of housing development and density. Are they suggesting that we should expect the developers, who eventually buy the land, to be asking for more housing to go on the land at the detailed planning application stage?
In the application, DTZ state that the site is able to accommodate in excess of the 400 units originally proposed in the Local Plan and talk of nearly doubling the housing density that is proposed for the site.
They point out in the application that the Local Plan allows residential development on sites not identified in the Local Plan. Could this be a reference to the unallocated part of the Llanfrechfa Grange site – the white area on the map. Do they want to build houses on there in advance of the next LDP?
DTZ also point out in the outline application that the Gwent Structure Plan states the following:
Firstly, that the Structure Plan allows for developments to be located in, or immediately adjoining, urban areas. Could this be a reference to the top fields to the north which form part of the Llanfrechfa Grange site but which fall outside the Urban Boundary line?
And secondly, they point out that the Gwent Structure Plan allows development to take place in peripheral rounding off areas [see map].
If you look at the map, you can make up your own minds. I think the picture it paints is frightening.
Taken together, these statements in the outline application could mean that up to 1400 houses could be built on the whole of the Llanfrechfa Grange site alone, with the potential for thousands more if rounding off allows the WDA to build on adjoining land as well.
And where does it all stop?
There’s developer interest in the land across to Ponthir and all the way up to New Inn [see map].
This is what concerns us. Its big business and this outline application could be just the thin end of the wedge.
We have a duty to act responsibly to make sure that developers don’t drive this wedge right through our countryside and through our communities.
So, as the wider picture emerges, it becomes apparent that it is important for us all to have our say when the next Local Plan is submitted by Torfaen Planners for consultation – and they have already starting work on it now – because there could quite clearly be many more developments to come if we’re not watchful.
I’ve just heard of an application for – I think it is for 80 houses – on a farmer’s field somewhere just near here.
Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile.
It is also important to make sure that we have an influence on the current development proposal put forward in this outline planning application – in terms of housing types and density, road and drainage infrastructure, open spaces, amenities and schooling - because what goes on here will set the standard for all the rest. It needs to be done right.
Because if it goes wrong now, it will go wrong big time in the future.
So, what are FLAG’s Main Causes for Concern
I’m now going to summarise a number of concerns and objections to the outline planning application that FLAG has identified. These are all covered in the standard letter of objection I mentioned earlier and which I have passed around.
Social Issues
1. We are concerned about the character and design of the proposed development and its proposed access routes.
2. The proposed development is unsympathetic, inconsiderate and inappropriate for Llanfrechfa village and its community.
3. The development would take away two large playing fields, including a cricket pitch, a football pitch, tennis courts and a hydrotherapy swimming pool paid for and built by local residents and still in regular use by hundreds of patients each week. Also taken away would be a conference centre and a community hall. There must be provision in the development to retain these vital community assets.
4. There is no adequate provision in the application to meet the necessary schooling, medical, dental and policing requirements necessary for the new residents of the development.
I’m sure that you know much more than I do about the implications on schooling – and I’d like to hear about it from you at the end of the talk.
What I can say from (bitter) personal experience is that I have the greatest sympathy and respect for anyone who goes up against a department within Torfaen County Borough Council which is determined to force through something which seems to be short sighted, illogical, and clearly not in the best interest of the public. I can especially appreciate how frustrating it can be when no-one seems to listen to what is just plain common sense.
5. The density of housing (600 units on the site) is too high and not in keeping with housing densities in the surrounding communities.
6. High density housing with high roof levels (2½ -3 stories) proposed near to Caerleon Road is out of character with the existing low density, low lying houses along Caerleon Road, and would constitute an eyesore and destroy the landscape. 7. Proposed on-street parking, on-pavement frontages and lack of adequate open play areas in the development resulting from high density housing are not consistent with modern planning practices and will lead to increased road traffic accidents - particularly amongst children - and poor access for emergency and service vehicles.
8. The removal of remaining patients from the Grange hospital and the prevention of patients using the hydrotherapy pool when suitable alternatives are unavailable to them would not be fair.
9. It is questionable whether the site should be redeveloped entirely for residential dwellings since there is a wider requirement for the hospital facilities presently available at the Grange.
10. There is a long held local belief that covenants exist on the land of the Grange which stipulate that the land should only be used for the benefit of the community, and so the proposed development would contravene this.
Transportation Infrastructure
1. We are concerned about the proposed road, cycle and pedestrian network for the proposed development and its access routes.
2. 600 residential units will bring an estimated one to two thousand additional vehicles, plus associated service vehicles, into Llanfrechfa - giving rise to unacceptable traffic congestion problems and an increased likelihood for road traffic accidents.
3. Unacceptable queuing will result on Caerleon Road, waiting to get onto the A4042 Turnpike roundabout which will be operating at above critical capacity.
4. The proposed alterations to the Turnpike roundabout to introduce 3 lanes feeding to and from the A4042 into the single lanes of Caerleon Road would be confusing to motorists, and result in an increase in road traffic accidents on what is already a very fast roundabout.
5. The proposed widening of Caerleon Road would result in total destruction of the existing hedgerow screen and some of the trees being cut down in the preservation tree belt area alongside Caerleon Road - which cannot be allowed and would leave unacceptable screening of the site.
6. Widening Caerleon Road would encourage speeding in an area already designated for speed cameras to limit excessive speeding through the village, and an increase in associated road traffic accidents.
7. Insufficient provision has been made for pedestrian footpaths and cycle paths along both sides of Caerleon Road, leading to dangers to pedestrians and cyclists - many of whom will be children on their way to and from school or Cwmbran town centre.
8. No alternative routes have been investigated or tested - such as a bypass route off Caerleon Road and through the development, skirting around the existing residents of Llanfrechfa (eg. from the Turnpike roundabout to a point rejoining Caerleon Road a few hundred metres beyond Edge Hill, towards Ponthir) to mitigate the problems identified.
Drainage
1. We are concerned about the provision for surface water and foul water sewerage disposal from the proposed development.
2. The existing drainage infrastructure is already operating at critical capacity, with occasional flooding onto Caerleon Road and sewage disposal problems in the locality.
3. The run-off and soak-away into the small brook to the rear of the development and into the Afon Llewydd, both of which run through Ponthir, is inadequate for dealing with the surface water created by building such a large development on this green field site. We believe that this would present a real and greatly increased risk of flooding downstream.
4. Insufficient investigation and detailed analysis has been made into dealing adequately with the drainage requirements of an additional 600 properties. From our own initial enquiries into this, we understand that there is not enough local drainage capacity available anywhere in the vicinity to deal with the surface water and sewage disposal of up to 400 additional residential units, let alone the 600 proposed.
The development cannot be allowed to proceed without comprehensive and detailed investigations and feasibility studies first being carried out into adequate drainage provisions. This is a serious issue. We regularly hear about development opportunities being turned down and having to be abandoned because of a lack of adequate drainage provision.
Environmental Issues
1. We are concerned about the provision made for the protection of wildlife, plants and animals in the proposed development and its access routes.
2. Destruction of the hedgerows and some of the trees in the preservation tree belt bordering Caerleon Road would result if the development is allowed to proceed in its present form. This is unacceptable.
3. Tree preservation orders exist on many of the trees on the Grange site, and should be vigorously protected. We’ve already seen two landmark trees opposite the entrance to Edge Hill cut down. At the time we put it down to incompetence, but if it turns out to have been part of some underlying master plan linked to the Grange development - then justice for any calculated act of vandalism will be swift. We will be keeping a close eye on this.
4. There is an abundance of rare and protected trees, plants, insects, animals and birds in their natural habitat within the Grange which would be detrimentally affected by the development.
5. Part of the land in the site is contaminated, and is unsuitable for a residential development. This contamination, and other pollutants from the development, could run into the nearby water courses and cause pollution downstream in Ponthir and Caerleon.
6. The visual pollution of 2½-3 story buildings on an elevated site is unacceptable to local residents and further afield.
Appeals Procedure
We fully expect Torfaen Planning to reject this outline planning application on the basis that it is inadequate, unacceptable and flawed. How on earth could it be approved in its present form? However, if Torfaen’s rejection is appealed, we are not satisfied whether an appeals procedure would be fair and unbiased - since the National Assembly for Wales is one of the applicants asking for the outline planning permission to be granted. This might constitute a conflict of interest.
The Local Plan
We will also be challenging the validity of the Local Plan. Things change. The plan is outdated. It is questionable whether the Local Plan is still valid in its designation of Llanfrechfa Grange for redevelopment into 600 residential dwellings - given the South Sebastopol situation, other previously unforseen residential developments underway in the area, the recent availability of alternative sites in Cwmbran, and in light of the declining industry in the area.
We ask that the need for this development be re-evaluated in light of the imminent new LDP.
So, what are the wider issues?
What does the redevelopment of the Llanfrechfa Grange hospital site mean to you, and to the surrounding communities?
This planning application will have far-reaching implications affecting the wider public and residents of many local communities neighbouring Llanfrechfa, including Llanyravon, Croesyceiliog, Llantarnam, Cwmbran, Ponthir, Caerleon, Sebastopol, Griffithstown and New Inn.
ROADS & TRAFFIC
SCHOOLING
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS - NEAR YOU?
LOCAL AMENITIES
For these reasons - and I’m sure that you must all have some more reasons of your own that we haven’t even thought about yet (and we would like to hear about them from you after this presentation), FLAG objects to the proposed development.
It should not be allowed to progress any further in its present form because this outline planning application is inadequate, unacceptable and flawed.
So, what have we been doing about it?
Up to 300 FLAG letters of objection have so far been received by County Hall – giving a strong message of local opposition to the proposed development on the Grange Hospital.
FLAG has held three Public Meetings with an open invitation to local residents and other members of the public who have an interest in the proposed development with presentations from FLAG Working Groups, the Planners and DTZ followed by an open forum in which concerns can be raised by the public in Question & Answer sessions.
These Public Meetings have been a great success, with attendances of up to 250-300 concerned people packed into the first meeting. That shows you the strength of public concern. 250 to 300 people and they weren’t happy.
We intend to speak at a number of other Public Meetings in the surrounding communities – and we’d like to talk to you about this afterwards.
We also intend to make a presentation to the Full Planning Committee before they decide on the outline application.
Liaison Group Meetings have been held between FLAG and Torfaen CBC Councillors, Planners, Community Councillors, The NHS Gwent Health Trust, Welsh Health Estates & DTZ to discuss: – Ecology, Landscape, Trees & Drainage - Highways, Transportation & Access Routes – Overall Design, Layout & Amenities required (so-called section 106 agreement).
However, these Liaison Group Meetings have not gone too well, as you have probably been told. The Planners and Applicants don’t seem to want to listen to our concerns and appear to be steamrolling the application through against the positive and constructive concerns that we and you have highlighted.
The specific questions we have raised have not been properly answered. We are concerned that not enough care and detailed consideration has gone in to the proposed development – and that it could go horribly wrong, leaving us (that’s me, you and the residents) to suffer the consequences.
And when it does go wrong, they will be straight on the phone to you – complaining and demanding to know what you’re going to do about it. But by then, it will be too late. They’ll be gone, and the damage will have been done.
It could be a nightmare situation. But if done properly, and in full and proper consultation with all of us –who know this area and the needs of the communities better than they do - it might just be that we could help prevent a development disaster.
And if we’re really lucky – we might end up with something we can all be proud of.
So, what happens next?
We have seen from the various meetings that the consultants still have a lot of work to do and that the proposed development is still a long way from being acceptable to local residents.
The outline planning application we have seen is a glossy brochure that the consultants have put together so they can maximise the profits for their clients, the National Assembly for Wales and Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust, when the land is eventually sold off to developers.
Make no mistake - the consultants do not care about the residents of Llanfrechfa, Ponthir, Llanyravon, Croesyceiliog, Llantarnam or Cwmbran. That’s why they haven’t properly consulted us or listened to us. If they had, we could have told them a thing or two and we might not even be here discussing their short-sighted proposal.
Their clients, the National Assembly for Wales and The Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust certainly don’t care about any of us - they’re selling up, shipping the patients out, and leaving.
And worst of all, the developers will show us absolutely no mercy when they start up their chainsaws and move their bulldozers in.
They are all in it for the money. It’s all about making as much money as possible.
And this is big business.
None of them will give us a second thought - unless we all act together now to make them sit up and listen. We cannot allow this outline planning application to go through unopposed because things will only get worse if we do. And we are not being unreasonable - the reasonable expectation of everyone in this room is that any residential developments to be built our village greens should be integrated sympathetically into our communities, or not at all.
We are concerned because the proposed development does not fairly meet the needs of the community.
So, what can we all do about it?
If we act together, we might be able to make the consultants re-evaluate their application in light of the concerns raised tonight and to come back with viable alternative proposals which better meet the needs of the community. They should take the message back to their clients - that there is very strong opposition to their application because it is inadequate, unacceptable and flawed.
We might also be able to convince the Planners, when making their decisions on this outline planning application, to give full consideration to all of the concerns raised tonight - and then reject the application because it is inadequate, unacceptable and flawed.
And, I would urge surrounding communities to write to County Hall with their objections to the proposed development.
And this is just the beginning. Now is the time for you and your communities to get more involved. We need to get the message across to the Planners and the developers that if it is going to be done, then it must be done properly. And we’re not very impressed with what’s on the table up until now.
You’ve heard a summary of our concerns tonight. We are currently working to pick up on each of the concerns we have raised and compile them into a comprehensive package of objections that will call a halt to this dangerous application, or at least modify it into some sensible form - before it’s too late.
If you have concerns over the development, we would ask you to help us to widen the fight and help notify others in these surrounding communities about what is happening on your doorstep, what it means to you, and what you can do about it.
Together we can fight this.
And together, we can make a difference.
That’s the end of my part of the presentation. Its time now to hear about the Highways implications and also to hear from you - about what you think of the proposed development
I’ll ask Chris to run through a few details with you on Highways, and then we’d like to hear from you on your thoughts, ideas & concerns - and what you think that, perhaps together, we could be doing about it.
Thank you. |