Gwynedd approves Williams’ 48 Bangor homes
Social housing provider Adra is on board as partner on the fully affordable development, which sailed through committee with 12 votes in favour.
Ainsley Gommon Architects has designed the scheme for Williams Homes (Bala). Axis advised on planning for the project, which is now on course for development on a site off the A5.
Opposite Bangor Crematorium, the site is considered sensitive as it lies within the Dyffryn Ogwen Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest, and adjacent to the scheduled ancient monument of the Penrhyn Quarry Railway which also forms part of a World Heritage Site.
The surrounding grounds nearby Penrhyn Castle are also a grade two*-registered park, while a grade two-listed building, Incline Cottage, is near the eastern boundary of the site.
However, the land, at Cae Incline Fields, is allocated for housing. On the table is a project that is 100% affordable, with a variety of housing types on offer. Speakers at the meeting referenced the quality of the proposals and how it responds to the surroundings.
Plans were filed in 2020 for 66 homes at the site, but were withdrawn due to concerns over the heritage designation. Only 13 homes within that project were affordable.
The plans now approved are made up of:
- Eight one-bed flats
- Six two-bed flats
- Five two-bed bungalows
- A three-bed bungalow for assisted living
- 13 two-bed two-storey houses
- 12 three-bed two-storey houses
- Two four-bed two-storey houses
- A five-bed two-storey house
There was no response registered in the planning officer report from community/town council.
Recommending approval, officers had said: “The site has been specifically designated for housing and therefore the principle of developing the site has been accepted.
“The fact that the development would provide 48 units that would be 100% affordable responds positively to the needs that have already been identified and is considered to contribute greatly to the affordable housing needs of the settlement.”
Want to know more? All documents can be viewed at Gwynedd’s planning portal, reference C25/0686/11/LL .
