Pwllheli business and housing development opposed

Sep 4 2008 by Dion Jones, Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald

PLANS to build a business park and 30 houses on the outskirts of Pwllheli have been met with stiff opposition from locals.

Gwynedd Council wants to build the park and a housing estate on more than two and a half hectares of land near the town’s Glandon garage.

The scheme has already been criticised by the Pwllheli town council and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW).

Pwllheli resident and treasurer of the Caernarfonshire branch of the CPRW, David Evans branded the plans “unnecessary” and is calling on others to register their opposition before it is too late.

He said: “The development will spoil what is a really attractive rural approach to Pwllheli.

“It is unnecessary – the land is on a landscape conservation area.

“It seems a shameful destruction of a lovely, rural gateway to the town.

“There have been recent developments in Pwllheli which have been the subject of much fruitless local opposition because they had been approved in principle many years back; if there is to be local opposition to this unwelcome development of the fields near Glandon, now is the time to show our feelings.

“I will be registering my opposition and hope others do the same.

“There’s a lot going on in Pwllheli at the moment and so many opportunities that are in need of development. We really don’t need to be churning up those fields at this point in time.”

Despite previous objections, the Welsh Assembly’s planning inspector has now recommended that Gwynedd Council include the area in the development boundary for Pwllheli.

The council is consulting on the proposal with less than a month to go for residents to send their objections before the consultation period ends on October 3.

A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: “Gwynedd Council is in the process of preparing the Gwynedd Unitary Development Plan, which – when adopted – will replace the existing plan.

“As a result of the need to provide additional land for housing and employment in Pwllheli, which is one of the main centres in the Gwynedd local planning authority area, as well as in response to duly made objections to the Deposit Draft Plan the council identified the land in question as a possible site for housing and employment uses. The council is confident it has complied with the requirements of the relevant regulations.”

dion.jones