Elan loses North Wales planning battle on heritage grounds 

Flintshire County Council’s decision to refuse the developer’s 95-home scheme in Higher Kinnerton has been upheld. 

The council refused Elan Homes’ application last March, citing the harm the scheme could have on nearby heritage assets.  

A decision notice confirming the refusal said the15 acres Elan wanted to develop should “remain as a buffer between the listed assets [Kinnerton Lodge, Kinnerton Lodge Stables and Compton Hall] and the village of Higher Kinnerton”. 

Planning inspector Clive Sproule agreed, concluding that the development’s impact on the area’s historic environment would “be of such significance that matters weighing in favour of the proposed development are not sufficient to outweigh the harm”. 

While accepting that the scheme would cause some harm to the nearby listed buildings, Elan said this “would be mitigated through the design of the proposed development,” according to the inspector’s report. This included the creation of a landscape buffer between existing homes and the listed assets.  

However, Sproule said: “The setting provided by the appeal site is especially important to the significance of the historic assets. And the significance of these historic assets would be significantly diminished by the development proposed through the removal of the open countryside between them.”

Elan had argued that the development would assist Flintshire in meeting its target of delivering 5,341 homes between now and 2030, as set out in its draft local development plan. 

It is not the first time that Elan and Flintshire have gone head-to-head at a planning inquiry. 

In 2017, Elan won an appeal against the refusal of plans for 56 homes on a nearby plot.