Approval secured for 110 North Wales homes

Castle Green Homes was granted planning permission to move forward with its proposals to build on a greenfield site in Denbigh, after an earlier version was refused last year.

Denbighshire County Council approved the plans for 110 red brick homes in accordance with officer recommendation at its planning meeting last week.

The nearly seven-acre site sits adjacent to Ysgol Pendref on the western edge of Denbigh. Access to the development would be from Gwaenynog Road, near A543.

Of the 110 homes, 22 are set to be designated as affordable according to the application submitted by Grimster Planning. That number is more than the 10% required by planning policy.

Under the housebuilder’s plans, the affordable homes would break down to two four-bed houses, two three-bed semi-detached houses, 16 two-bed semi-detached houses, and four one-bed flats.

The market homes would range from two-bed detached houses to four-bed detached homes. Most of these homes (47 in total) would be three-bedroom dwellings.

A prior version of the project had been rejected by Denbighshire Council last year because of an unjustified loss of agricultural land, insufficient highway infrastructure to support the project, and concerns the scheme would contribute unnecessarily to climate change. The decision had been contrary to officer recommendation.

Castle Green’s lawyer, David Manley QC of Kings Chambers, provided legal advice that the reasons for refusal were unjust and that an appeal should be lodged. This letter of advice was submitted alongside the planning statement for the new application.

While the number of homes remains the same as before, the new application does include some revisions. Improvements have been made to proposed pedestrian links to lower Gwaenynog Road and there have been enhancements to the previous ecological plan in regards to hedgehog holes and bird and bat boxes.

The project team includes Ascerta, SCP, Cheshire Ecological Services, and Betts Hydro Consulting Engineers.

“We are delighted to have finally been awarded planning consent for this development,” said Stuart Andrew, design and planning director at Castle Green Homes.

“Castle Green Homes prides itself on its partnering approach to all aspects of development, and this was very much the case for this scheme,” Andrew continued.

“Despite the political challenges we faced, we have worked amicably with Denbighshire County Council officers and elected members to arrive at a scheme that is both in line with their local plan and delivers benefits in excess of planning policy. The culmination of this project will deliver much needed new homes for the residents of Denbigh as well as much improved highways safety measures locally.”

Want to learn more about the application? The project’s reference number with Denbighshire County Council is 01/2022/0690.