PLANS for 25 new homes on a Cwmbran farmland branded “inappropriate and unacceptable” have been unanimously rejected by councillors.

The application for a site at Tyr Ywen Farm off Ty Canol Way in Greenmeadow – featuring three pairs of semi-detached homes, a terrace of three affordable homes, and 16 detached homes – was presented to Torfaen council’s planning committee on Thursday, August 11.

However, after voicing their concerns about the proposal – which was submitted by Tyr Ywen Developments Ltd – councillors rejected the plans.

Explaining the decision, a planning report stated “a lack of local facilities and lack of feasible active travel opportunities” meant that the site “did not represent high quality placemaking or sustainable development.”

“The proposed scale of development and design approach was incompatible with the site conditions and local character,” it continued.

This, the report said, “was evidenced by the inability to provide parking spaces in accordance with adopted standards”, and the “lack of useable garden spaces”. 

The steep slope on the land – a difference of 20 metres – would also mean “extensive engineering works” would be needed to build the homes.

The plans for the greenfield site were described as an “inappropriate and unacceptable development”.

Concerns were also raised over the levels of affordable housing as part of the development, which did not meet the required level, while the site’s proximity to the Grade II-listed Tyr Y Wen Barn and Tyr Y Wen Farmhouse also raised concerns that the project would “irreversibly eradicate the rural setting”.

The site falls within the council’s local development plan, meaning the authority is in favour of development on the land in principle to meet housing needs in the county borough.

Cllr Stuart Ashley said it was “questionable” that the site was originally included in the local development plan.

“Why was it included?,” he said. “For my mind, it was a site too far.”

Cllr Karl Gauden said: “This site was originally put in the local development plan as suitable for housing, and we’ve heard that because of the Implications for Future Wales obligations, it’s taken another turn.

“How did that site find itself in the local development plan in the first place?”

“Back in 2013 was the adoption of the existing local development plan in which the site was allocated,” said the planning officer. “The candidate site work was being done around 2010. At that time, there was very little pre-allocation consideration of a site.

“There was an assessment of it done, and it was a very desktop exercise that looked at the site on a map.

“There were issues that were identified. It was recognised at the time that there was ecological value in the site and also the steepness of the site was acknowledged, and there were potential issues with highways.

“But it was identified as a logical rounding off of the urban boundary, basically to fill the gap between Rosemead and Bluebell Court. At the time, that was the way that candidate sites were assessed.”