WREXHAM: Rossett homes development held up by drainage plan

Last year full planning permission was granted for the Castle Green Homes development of land to the north and south of Lane Farm in the village, after the Welsh Government overturned the council’s rejection of the scheme on appeal in 2020.

But at a meeting of Wrexham Council’s planning committee it was revealed work has yet to start as an acceptable drainage scheme had yet to be provided to the authority.

Drainage issues are dealt with separately from the planning process by the council’s SUDs (sustainable urban drainage) advisory board deal known as SAB (SUDs Advisory Board), and no development takes place until any issues are addressed.

This information came to light after campaigners against the development obtained the SAB decision through a Freedom of Information request.

READ MORE; Detailed plans for 132 homes in Rossett approved despite objections

Earlier in the summer the Local Democracy Reporting Service twice contacted Wrexham Council about the SAB decision regarding the development and received no reply.

Castle Green Homes have already placed some signage at the site advertising the homes and had applied for partly retrospective permission for two temporary sales signs and 10 flags on poles. The temporary permission would last three years.

But objections had been lodged against these separate plans.

John Filce, representing the Rossett Focus Group, which has campaigned against the development and made the SAB FOI request, spoke at the meeting to argue the application does not comply with guidance. He said the flags creating an ongoing noise nuisance for residents and the signage could create road safety risks.

“The whole question is whether this application should be considered at all arises from the recently disclosed SAB application by this developer on the grounds of flood risk”, he added.

Stuart Andrew, design and planning director of Castle Green Homes, dismissed these claims and said work on the development was imminent.

He said: “Only the phosphates treatment situation locally, was preventing the site from commencing yet.

“As I’m sure you’re also aware of that problem is now very much in the process of being resolved and as a result this development is likely to start imminently, hence our wish to appropriately advertise it.

“Some of the objections to these proposals for ‘for sale’ signs do seem to be mistakenly confusing the application with the planning permission for the site in general.”

Mr Andrew added that there was “nothing out of the ordinary” with the signage, that it was not illuminated or overly large.

He said 40 to 50 members of the public local to Rossett had already expressed interest about the homes at the site and it is neighbours of those objecting who will be buying homes there.

Cllr Hugh Jones

Rossett Cllr Hugh Jones (Con) spoke out against the signage plans. He said: “What we’ve heard from Castle Green Homes is really irrelevant.

“The facts are the application and those flags and signs that are already erected are well in excess of what the guidance is for a site such as this.

“This is a rural site in a rural community and therefore the guidance should be followed. Nobody’s objecting to flags of the correct size and poles of the correct number.”

Cllr Jones felt local residents were being dismissed by the developer and it was not unreasonable to ask for them to comply with guidelines.

Council planning officer Matthew Phillips said guidelines had not been breached. He said regulations do not the limit number of signs, size, or where they can be placed, but the type of signage that can be erected without consent. He rejected the visual harm and highways concerns.

Llay Cllr Bryan Apsley (Lab) referred to Mr Filce’s comments regarding SUDs.

“How are we in a position to comment when the whole site could be refused on the basis it hasn’t complied (with SUDs)?”, he said.

“It concerns me we are going to make decision when it could be refused altogether because of the SUDs situation.”

Mr Phillips said the SUDs issue was irrelevant to the application and a separate matter, that the plans should only be considered on amenity and public safety, and there were no grounds for refusal.

Ruabon Cllr Dana Davies (Lab) asked whether the number of poles could be reduced from 10 to six as a compromise. Mr Andrew of Castle Green Homes said he would accept that.

READ MORE; Campaigners 'very angry' after Rossett housing plans approved

Chairing the meeting, Holt Cllr Mike Morris (Con) pointed to other signage around Wrexham, such as large illuminated digital boards with moving images which had been approved on appeal, and told councillors that they needed to be fair and consistent.

The council’s chief planning officer David Fitzsimon suggested councillors needed more training on advertisement consent and described the concession to reduce the number of poles to six as a “generous offer” by the applicant.

He said: “Some members are not happy about this as a housing site but there is a valid planning permission for this site to be developed.

“This signage has to be seen in the context of a housing development which is likely to commence once conditions have been discharged.”

The committee voted to delegate a decision on the plans to reduce the number of flags to six to officers.