Fresh plans have been lodged to legitimise an extension at a traveller site near Blaina, where five families live. The proposal for the site at Glyn Milwr, near Stone Houses, is the third to be considered after two previous applications were refused by Blaenau Gwent council's planning committee.
Third application submitted
Mr and Mrs Bridge and their family are behind the latest plans, submitted by planning agents Hayston Developments and Planning Limited. Documents lodged in support of the new application explain why the site is needed.
Hayston said: "The current proposal is for the applicant to retain the site of their permanent homes as they cannot be accommodated on any other private authorised site in the county."
Need for more pitches
The latest Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Need Assessment (GTANA) in Blaenau Gwent reveals the need for nine more pitches to be built by 2033, and Hayston believes that there is a "high degree of uncertainty" that they will ever materialise.
They point out that the council's traveller site in Cwmcrachen has a waiting list and that the council would only be able to meet the needs of the GTANA by allowing private sites to be authorised.
Hayston continued: "In general, recent appeal decisions for new sites in south east Wales indicate a significant unmet need for additional Gypsy pitches both locally and regionally, and (planning) inspectors have given significant weight to a severe lack of suitable and available alternate sites which would not be addressed in the near future."
Highway safety concerns
In their submission, Hayston look at the reasons why the last application was refused back in January, which included highway safety concerns around the "substandard access to the site."
Hayston said: "The refusal notice considers the proposed development will significantly increase traffic and pedestrian movements to the detriment of users. However, no empirical evidence has been provided in respect of any accident to either pedestrians or vehicles occurring along this unadopted mainly private road since the site has been used. It therefore appears that the access road has been used safely by local drivers and pedestrians who all use the route on a daily basis."
A decision on the application is expected by November 16. The application rejected by councillors in January was the second put forward to try and legitimise the site extension. When the application was submitted to the council in October 2024, it suspended enforcement action being taken by the council to remove families from the site. A previous retrospective application to legitimise the extension was refused by the council's planning committee in October 2022.
