Opposition to Planning Application 2007/0172 - housing development near Pwlldu (revised application) REJECTED, BUT APPEAL SUBMITTED 08/10/07

News
08/10/07: An APPEAL was made to the Welsh Assembly by the developer on 8th October 2007. You can read more about the appeal process here.
27/03/07: The decision was delegated - meaning the planning officials made the decision, not the Committee. On 16th March the decision was made to REFUSE the application. Apologies for the delay in posting this information. You can see confirmation and further details of the decision on the swansea.gov website
14/03/07: Application 2007/0172 DIDN'T go before the committee on the 13th - as had been suggested here previously. We still haven't had a firm date for this - and indeed it appears that it may not even go to committee. More info when we have it...
05/02/07: 2007/0172 - A REVISED VERSION OF PREVIOUS APPLICATION 2006/1031 SUBMITTED BY DEVELOPERS. Developers who have tried once and failed to get planning approval for a housing estate between Pwlldu Lane and Brandy Cove Road have submitted a new, slightly revised application

Background
Planning Application 2007/0172 is an outline application to build a new housing development on a large green field site in Bishopston between Pwlldu Lane and Brandy Cove Road. It is a slightly revised version of a previous application (2006/1031) which was unanimously rejected by the planning department. You can see an aerial photo of the proposed site here. You can also see pictures of the field as it is now.

The application is being made on behalf of the owners of the fields by a developer called Baytree Homes Limited (Previously Havencray Limited). Its company secretary and director are listed in the Company Record at an address in Cilfrew, Neath, and its registered address is Phoenix Way Enterprise Park, Swansea. You can find out more about Baytree Homes Limited - and the sort of houses they build - on their website.

The application went in to Swansea Planning Department on the 25th January 2007 and a letter was sent out to immediate neighbours of the proposed site on the 2nd February. People who want to write to the Planning Department about this application have until the 23rd February 2007 to do so (although late would still be much better than never!). Anyone and everyone has the right to make an observation - including an objection - to any planning application.

More information about 2007/0172
This is a revised submission of a previous application (2006/1031) which was turned down. Planning applicants have the right, within a certain timescale, to submit a revised application if their original application is turned down. They can do this as long as there are actually some changes in it. Note that although it is a revised application, the Planning Department essentially has to treat it as a separate new application. We must treat it in the same way, and oppose it as vigorously as the previous one.

Having looked carefully it the new application, it is really very similar to the previous one. The only real difference appears to be that the application is to build on the larger of the two fields, rather than both as previously (it was rumoured that the smaller field was to have been a car park). We have our own views as to what their future plans would be for the smaller field if they were to get permission for the larger one. There is another, tiny, revision - they have added the words 'affordable housing'. DON'T BE TAKEN IN BY THIS!! This is an outline application only and does not specify what type of housing they will build. If you're still unsettled by the addition of these two words, why not read some thoughts about affordable housing on Gower?

Bishopston Community Council was opposed to the previous development. It can only be supposed that they will oppose this one too, although it is our understanding that they have not yet had a chance to discuss it.

We have done our best to make as much information as possible on application 2007/0172 available through this website.

You can see brief details of the application on the Swansea Planning Department website.

You can view a copy of the full application, including a plan of the proposed site.

You can read a copy of the letter sent out to immediate neighbours of the proposed site.

You can see a detailed colour coded map of the proposed site showing land planning designations.

If you have any more queries, please contact us and we'll do our best to answer them.

Opposing this development
If you've read this far then chances are you're opposed to this development - and hopefully you want to do something about it. But what can be done?

Writing a letter (or email) to Swansea Planning Department outlining your objections to this proposal is an excellent way of standing up and being counted. You can see contact details for the Planning Department on their website.

Your letter doesn't have to be long, but it should list one or two (or more!) valid objections. You can read a list of some (but by no means all!) good reasons to object here.

Tell as many people as you can about this and encourage them to write and object if they're opposed to it too. Remember - anyone can object, but most people won't have been sent a letter of notification so they may not even know about it. Pass on the address of this website to them too - it's easy to copy lots of people into a short email.

Consider making you views known to:

• Your Local Councillor and Community Council
• Your Welsh Assembly Member (AM)
• Andrew Davies AM, the Welsh Assembly Minister for Enterprise. He recently wrote about the importance of protecting Gower for future generations (it was on the Welsh Assembly website, but not any more)
• Your Member of Parliament (MP)

You can see contact details for all of the above on the WriteToThem website

If you're against this development, but you just know you won't get round to writing a letter of objection, why not drop us an email of support? Give us your name and address and we'll collate a list of individuals who are opposed to this development to hand in to Swansea Planning Department. You can contact us here. And don't forget you can always email Swansea Planning Department direct.

You can also sign an online petition against this application. (Petitions are not a substitute for letters - if at all possible, do both!)

Swansea Area Planning Guidance - it's on our side!
Planning Guidance documents for the Swansea region robustly defend the need to preserve Gower in an unspoilt state for future generations.

You can read a detailed analysis of relevant local planning policy here - it's a tad boring, but it's very useful for objection letters...

Planning guidance on agricultural land makes it quite clear that the "best and most versatile" farm land should not be lost to development. Our detailed research shows quite clearly that the site in question is Grade 1 - the very best. You can see a composite map showing land grades in the Bishopston area here.

You can also:

• read what planners had to say when they turned down the previous application last year
• read what planners had to say when they turned down a similar application more than 30 years ago

More information is available on the Government Planning Portal website and it's well worth a read (sorry - both of these links point at specific pages, but the site bounces you to its home page - worth a dig around though):

PLANNING POLICY GZ 7 - BISHOPSTON VALLEY/PWLLDU/CASWELL

PLANNING POLICY CL 1 - LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION - GENERAL