Plans to build four food and retail outlets on the site of a Flintshire hotel which was destroyed by fire have been given the green light.

Proposals to transform the former Gateway to Wales hotel site in Garden City were previously refused twice by Flintshire Council due to concerns it would cause traffic problems.

A fresh application was submitted by Valedown Developments Ltd in April this year to create a Costa Coffee drive-thru, convenience store and two food retail outlets just off the A494.

The latest scheme was backed for approval by a senior council official ahead of a meeting of the local authority's planning committee yesterday (Wednesday, 25 September).

Councillors supported the motion unanimously despite fears being raised at the meeting regarding road safety, air pollution and the risk of flooding at the site.

(Image: Planning document) A statement was read out at the start of the meeting from local resident Carol Cousins, who said: “When permission was refused for this proposal, one point raised was regarding the intensification of access required by large delivery vehicles.

“This is a safety issue given the proximity to the roundabout, properties and a nearby access road.

“The proposer responded by saying that deliveries will take place outside of retail hours, which will result in large, noisy vehicles accessing the site in the early morning and late at night, causing noise and disruption for the surrounding properties.

“The speed limit on the A494 has been reduced to 50mph to improve the air quality, because it has been proven that air pollution can increase the risk of serious illness and reduce the quality of life.

“Extra traffic caused by customer vehicles and large delivery vehicles along Welsh Road will increase this.”

Andrew Farrow, Flintshire's chief planning officer, recommended in a report that the proposals should be accepted.

He said the scheme would deliver economic benefits and denied it would cause any road safety issues.

The site has been disused since a fire tore through the Gateway to Wales hotel in December 2017, leaving the building completely gutted.

The 40-bedroom hotel was later knocked down after being bought by Manchester-based developers Valedown in 2020.

(Image: Planning document) Objections against the plans were also raised in a statement from local councillor Christine Jones.

She said: “My objections to the application have not changed from when it first came to the planning committee as highway safety is still a major issue.

“It is an extremely busy stretch of road as the traffic comes over the flyover from Chester and off the slip road from the Airfields development, which includes Amazon vehicles and those from Deeside Industrial Park.

“There are pavements on both sides, properties on one side, and a playing field opposite.

“There is no parking for HGVs and no room for them to manoeuvre on the development site.”

However, committee members said any reasons to refuse the application had been addressed.

Cllr Chris Bithell, cabinet member for planning, said: “Most of us here remember this application well. There were concerns at that time about large articulated lorries entering the site, making deliveries to the retail units and filling the car park as a consequence.

“As has been explained by the officer, this can be covered by condition to ensure that deliveries are at a different hour of the day when it's less busy.

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“The site was previously occupied by the old Gateway Hotel, which is quite popular and quite busy.

“I think we need to bear that in mind in terms of the number of visits to the site, as well as access and egress.”

The proposals were approved with all 14 committee members voting in favour.