FLAG 4 th PUBLIC MEETING

Outline Planning Application [05/P/11806E] for LLANFRECHFA GRANGE

Rob Crowshaw & Chris Kirby

7:00pm on Wednesday 15th March 2006 at Llanyrafon Social Club

Introduction

 

Good evening.  Thank you for inviting us here to talk to you tonight.  I’m Rob Crowshaw.  I live in Llanfrechfa, and I’m a member of FLAG - the Friends of Llanfrechfa Action Group.

 

We’ve been asked to talk here, in Llanyrafon, because your Community Councillors are concerned that the development on the Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital site won’t just affect Llanfrechfa, but that it will have wider and equally serious implications for you in these neighbouring communities. And these are implications that you would probably want to be aware of – because they will affect you, and your quality of life here.

 

We want to make sure that, if the development does eventually go ahead, then it should be done properly and professionally, and in full consultation with the public.

 

Whilst some people may, understandably, have their own reasons for wanting the development to go ahead, we are concerned because there are some serious flaws and question marks over parts of the Outline Application, which could result in detrimental knock-on effects for you here, and in the surrounding communities.

 

For example, the knock on effects of the traffic could cause difficulties around here. And we are concerned about an increased risk of flooding from the Afon Lywd - with the drainage from the development planned to be run straight into the local streams and rivers.

 

And if mistakes are made in planning this development, then it will be all of us who will be left to live with those mistakes. Every day.

 

 

So, I’m going to tell you about:

Ø      The Outline Planning Application

Ø      Why FLAG was set up

Ø      And what land is involved

 

Ø      Chris Kirby will run through some of the major impacts that the development will have on you, and

Ø      And then I’ll conclude with what we can all do about it.

 

I’ve written it down to keep it as brief and as clear as possible. It’ll take about 15 minutes to go through - and then there will be a chance for questions and comments from you at the end. Duncan Smith has been working very closely with the applicants, so he’s in an ideal position to answer any questions or concerns you might have.

 

So, to start with, the Outline Planning Application and why FLAG was set up

 

Back in May, only about 30 or so residents, out of around 300 households in Llanfrechfa, received letters from Torfaen Planners informing us that an outline planning application had been submitted by the National Assembly for Wales and Gwent Health Trust, for 400 residential units to be built on the hospital site. And we were given just 21 days to write in with our objections.

 

Clearly, not enough people had been notified. This was a major development which would have devastating impacts on everyone in Llanfrechfa - and have serious knock-on effects for communities miles around.

 

And not enough time was given for us to make our objections.

 

Incredibly, our Community Councillors were also overlooked - they didn’t initially receive notification from the Planners.  

 

This was not a very promising start, and didn’t bode well for the future.

So, FLAG was set up. We distributed a series of letters, leaflets and newsletters throughout the whole of Llanfrechfa, parts of Llanyrafon and Ponthir with the aim of notifying as many people as possible about the proposed development. We held three public meetings. This is our fourth, and we may have a fifth coming up in Ponthir.

 

We have written letters of complaint and letters of objection, and held a number of meetings with David Davies, Margaret Pead, our Community Councillors and Torfaen Planning and Highways - with the aim of getting the consultation period extended, so that everyone can have a fair chance to have their say.    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. 

 

To be of help, FLAG has prepared a letter of objection [available online on our websire www.cwmbran.org] listing concerns about the wider issues of the application. This letter summarises some of the knock-on effects of the development, and the main points of concern that will have a negative impact on the surrounding communities.

 

Chris will run through these issues with you in a moment. 

 

There is a copy of the letter by the door for you to take away after the meeting. Please take an extra copy for your friends, families or neighbours. You simply fill in your name and address, then sign and date the 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. You can also download a copy from our website – cwmbran.org.

 

Alternatively, you can of course write your own letters and send them in.

 

But either way, if you’re concerned, please make sure you do send a letter to County Hall. And do it soon. Because, it is important to get your concerns heard now – before it’s too late.

 

So, what land will be affected by the development?

 

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 as a Special Landscape Area.

 

A thick black line runs down the page. This is the Urban Boundary line. Everything to the left of it is housing, industry, shops, schools and the like. Everything to the right of it should stay as countryside. This is the line that is drawn to prevent Urban Sprawl.

 

Now, the Grange site is around 70 acres in total.

 

The dark area labelled S1/9 and S1/10 is the 40 acres of land that the application relates to –and which has been allocated in the Local Plan to have 400 residential units built on there.

 

Just to the right of this, is a white area on the map bordered by the Urban Boundary line. This part of the Hospital site [see map] is around 20 acres and includes the Grange house – which is a Grade II listed building – the walled gardens, the laundry and some woodland.

 

There is talk of relocating the laundry and building at least another 200 houses on this part of the site. So that’s where the figure of 600 houses comes from.

 

The Grange site also has two fields just to the north [see map] – around 10 acres – which falls outside the Urban Boundary. We suspect they may want to build houses there too.

 

And the WDA (The Welsh Development Agency Land Division) have bought up all of the fields surrounding the site [see map] – in the area of Special Landscape outside the Urban Boundary - and they have already made initial enquiries into developing on that land.

 

We believe that other developers may already have options on the land all the way up to the Crematorium [see map].

Can you see the emerging picture?

 

And in the Outline Application, there are statements made about nearly doubling the housing density that is proposed on the site. They discuss building on land not allocated in the Local Plan [see map], building on land immediately adjoining urban areas [see map], and building on land 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 1,400 houses could be built on the Llanfrechfa Grange site, with the potential for thousands more if the WDA and other profit hungry developers are allowed 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].

 

“So what?” – you might think. That’s all happening over there – on the other side of the dual carriageway. What’s this got to do with us?

 

Well, let’s think for a minute about other development opportunities, closer to home.

 

South Sebastopol is a massive development a couple of miles up the road, and the Planning Committee has just given the green light to the developers to start work building a huge housing estate there. Still too far away to affect you?

 

Well, what about County Hall? [see map] It has concrete cancer, we’re told. So we’re already hearing of plans to knock it down, build a load more houses on there, and move County Hall to a nice new location. Perhaps on the site of one of the local schools that has been earmarked to be closed?

 

And what about the local schools?  I don’t know – but look at all this green space. Is Crossy School safe? [see map]

 

Llantarnam School certainly wasn’t safe when the John Fielding House development took away a large chunk of their school playing fields so they could build housing on it [see map].

I don’t know what plans may have already been made for Ponthir School, or Brookfield School.

 

What about developments on factory sites? Trico, for example?

 

Or on the old Saunders Valve site [see map].

 

What about the Girling’s site? [see map]

 

Let’s hope no one touches all this green space? It might be considered to be prime location for housing - alongside the river, or down by the boating lake. [see map]

 

So where does it all stop?

 

There are lots of places to build houses – near all of us.

 

But there will be nowhere left to work.  Nowhere left to play.  And nowhere to go to school.

 

This is what concerns us. And it should concern you.

 

Its big business and this outline application could just be 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 all of our communities.

So, as the wider picture emerges, it becomes apparent that it is important for us all to have our say when the new Local Plan is submitted by Torfaen Planners for public consultation - and they have already starting work on it – because there could quite clearly be many more developments to come near you if we’re not watchful.

 

If we give them an inch, 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 the supporting road infrastructure, the drainage network, the housing types and density, the open spaces and     environment, the local amenities and schooling to name but a few - because what goes on here will set the standard for all the rest.  

 

So it needs to be done right - or not at all.

 

Because if it goes wrong now, it will go wrong big time for us in the future.

So, what are the wider issues?

What could the development on the Llanfrechfa Grange 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, Llantarnam, Croesyceiliog and Ponthir – and possibly as far as Caerleon, Sebastopol, Griffithstown and New Inn.

 

Chris is now going to briefly run through with you some of the knock-on effects and negative impacts that the development will have on these surrounding communities. They are also listed in the ‘Wider Issues’ letter of Objection I mentioned earlier, which you can take away with you at the end.

 

 

Thank you, Chris.

 

For these reasons - and you may have some concerns of your own - the proposed development should not be allowed to progress any further in its present form - because this outline planning application is inadequate, unacceptable and flawed.

 

So, finally - what can we – all - do about it?

 

There are four things we can all do:

 

1st of all,           I would urge everyone in the surrounding communities to write to Duncan Smith at County Hall with your concerns about the proposed development.

 

This is the proper and democratic process expected by Torfean Planning. Sending letters of objection to County Hall will give a very strong message of local concern about the proposed development on the Grange. Please do send them in. Your comments will make a difference.

 

2ndly.    You should tell us you concerns so that we can put them forward at the Liaison Group Meetings - which are held between FLAG, your Councillors, the Planners, The Health Trust & The National Assembly for Wales.

 

In these meetings we have tried to put forward local concerns on:

–        Highways and Drainage

–        The Design & Layout and the Amenities required

–        And the effect on the Ecology, Landscape & Trees

 

However, these Liaison Group Meetings have not gone too well for us.

 

We’ve had great difficulty in getting the Applicants to take our concerns seriously - and we feel that the application is being steamrollered through against the valid concerns and the positive and constructive contributions that we, and your Councillors, have raised.

 

But we’ll keep on fighting to get these points across.

 

We’re 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 you, me and other members of the local communities) to suffer the consequences.

 

And when it does go wrong, people will be up in arms, complaining and demanding to know what is going to be done about it. But by then, it will be too late. The developers will be gone, and the damage will have been done.

 

The chance to have your say is now – before it’s too late.

 

3rdly.     You should tell other people about what’s going on.

 

FLAG has held a number Public Meetings – which have been a great success, with attendances of up to 300 concerned people packed into them. That shows you the strength of public concern - 300 people coming out in force - and they weren’t happy.

 

We intend to speak at a number of other Public Meetings in the surrounding communities.

 

We have also asked if we can make similar presentations to the Councillors who sit on the Full Planning Committee – to let them know the strength of opposition to the Outline Application as it stands - before they make any decisions or vote to approve it.

 

So 4thly, It is important to make your concerns known to your elected Councillors - so that they can stand up and be counted when its time for them to speak up about the development on your behalf. And let them know that if they don’t support you on this issue when the time comes, then they shouldn’t expect your support when the time comes for you to vote for their re-election.

 

 

In all fairness, the Community Councillors have been excellent. It was your Community Councillors who organised this Public Meeting. They have, between them and the Ponthir Community Councillors, attended and been vocal at all of the Public Meetings and Liaison Group Meetings that have been held since last May.

 

So it’s important to make sure your Councillors know what’s going on, and for you to let them know what you think about it.

 

Now is the time for you to get more involved. We need to get the message across to the Planners, the Applicants, and the potential developers - that if this development is to go ahead, then it must be done properly.

 

And, in my opinion, if you look at what’s been put forward so far by the applicants, it’s not very impressive.

 

The outline planning application we have before us is simply a glossy brochure that the consultants have put together so they can maximise the profits for their clients when the land is eventually sold off to developers.

 

Make no mistake - the consultants do not care about the residents of Llanfrechfa, Llanyravon, Croesyceiliog, Llantarnam or Ponthir. That’s why they haven’t properly consulted us or listened to our concerns.

 

Their clients, the National Assembly for Wales and Gwent Health certainly don’t care about any of us - they’re selling up, shipping the Hospital 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 for others if we do. If we roll over too easily on this one, it will be seen as a sign of weakness, which could open the floodgates for all the other developments around us – that are just waiting in the pipelines.

And we are not being unreasonable - the reasonable expectation of everyone in this room is that any residential developments to be built on our community parklands 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.

 

If we act together, we should be able to force 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.

 

We should also send a clear message to the Councillors on the Planning Committee - that when they get together to make their decisions on this outline planning application, they should give full consideration to all of the concerns raised tonight.

 

And if the development does eventually go ahead, we should all be able to hold our heads up high and say that, together, we did our best.

 

Now is the time for us all to voice our concerns - before it’s too late.

 

My message to you tonight is this:

 

The proposed development will affect all of us – but if we work together, and act together now, then together we can make a difference.

 

Thank you.