Planners give green light to build 151 homes in Llangefni

Anglesey Council’s decision to formally approve the building of 91 homes at the town’s Coleg Menai campus follows the recent awarding of consent for a separate development of 60 houses nearby.

Both plans were awarded outline approval in 2017 as part of the major planning application, also including a new engineering centre, hotel and restaurant.

But planners also had to sign off on separate ‘reserved matters’ applications for more detailed aspects of the proposals before work could start.

Coleg Menai later sold part of the site to the Clwyd Alyn housing association in 2019, with full permission awarded this past April to build 60 two and three bed homes and apartments on 4.2 acres of land known as ‘plots 2 & 3.’

But detailed plans for the remainder of the site, known as ‘plots 1 & 4,’ have also now been signed off meaning that work can commence.

According to Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, while outline approval was originally given for 93 properties, it was later decided to reduce that figure by two.

Detailed plans for the remainder of the site at Coleg Menai, known as 'plots 1 & 4,' have now been signed off meaning that work can now commence. Screengrab from planning documents.

The mix of three, four and five bedroom properties are designed as open market homes, as opposed to the 60 affordable homes being developed by Clwyd Alyn housing.

It had been originally proposed to offer 83 affordable homes across all four sites, however.

“The obligation to deliver affordable housing was discharged through the transfer of plots 2 and 3 to a Registered Social Landlord who is registered to work on Anglesey,” notes the supporting statement.

“Plots 2 and 3 have been sold to Clwyd Alyn Housing Association. All 91 dwellings proposed on plots 1 and 4 are therefore open market dwellings.

“The hybrid planning permission was subject to a Section 106 Agreement which was subject to a deed of variation on the 29th March 2019 which clarified that all the affordable housing required on Site B would be delivered on plots 2 and 3.”

Local opposition was mainly centred around the impact on local wildlife and that it would put further strain on local services.

Speaking in July 2017, Dr Huw Idris Jones told the planning committee that while most locals did not object to the engineering centre, it was claimed that  the rest of the proposals would represent over-development.

“In our view, the infrastructure of the town cannot cope with such a sudden increase in population, which will put additional strain on services and GPs,” he said.

“We’re also concerned about the impact on wildlife, specifically red squirrels, which are known to reside in the area.”

But according to developers,  plans had been amended to try and work with local residents, including the planting trees to act as a screen.

Planning officer Dewi Francis Jones said at the time that they were satisfied that the benefits would “greatly outweigh the negatives,” but accepted “there was no such thing as a perfect planning application.”