More urban sprawl: New development on greenfield site in Gresford goes against council's own Local Development Plan

A new development on a greenfield site in Gresford goes against council's own Local Development Plan - yet is being recommended for approval by the same officers who wrote that plan!

It's the latest in a series of recommendations by planners that ignore objections by the council's own expert officers as well as local opinion.

Cllr Carrie Harper, Plaid Cymru's Wrexham spokesperson, said: 

"The planning department's recommendation to approve 42 homes on a green field site at Vicarage Lane, Gresford, is another sign that developers are having their own way in Wrexham. There are good highways and environmental arguments why this excellent agricultural land should be maintained yet planners have ignored their own specialist officers' advice - yet again. This site was considered for the Local Development and rejected by the very same planning department only two years ago. What's changed?

"The same flawed arguments were made for 70 homes on Dean Road playing fields in Rhosnesni and a 110-house development in New Broughton last month. We've also seen plans for building on a green field site in Rossett recommended for approval. All three were rejected by councillors on the planning committee and were also rejected as part of the incoming LDP.

"The rationale being used by senior planning officers is that the county borough does not have sufficient housing land supply because it currently doesn't have an active Local Development Plan. This is despite the Welsh Government's then planning minister Lesley Griffiths relaxing the guidelines and stating that arguments for housing land supply should be taken on their individual merit. Instead of acting on this, planners are bending over backwards to help developers build on land that the LDP says should be protected.

"Recent planning recommendations mean that Wrexham is in danger of seeing villages merge into an ugly urban sprawl, losing the green spaces that we all treasure and allowing developers rather than the community to dictate what kinds of housing are built and where. A planning system that provides no protection for our communities is a broken planning system. That's even more the case when you have a planning department hellbent on ignoring some basic guidelines."

The planning committee meeting will take place at The Guildhall at 4pm Monday 29th July.

More info from Vicarage Lane Action Group