Llangollen & District Friends of the Earth | Cyfeillion y Ddaear Llangollen a'r Rhanbarth

Tag: denbighsire

  • LDP Candidate Sites

    The LDP will steer development within Llangollen and the whole of Denbighshire over the next 15 years. This is an important chance for you to influence how that development takes place.

    A number of sites in Llangollen have been submitted as ‘Candidate Sites’ for development. Here is a guide to the sites…

    Llangollen Youth Club Site site
    Site ref: CS-03E-170

    Youth Club Playing Field

    Some thoughts on the youth club playing field site;

    • This land is a vital resource for the youth club, kids, adults, families and sports teams.
    • This green space should be retained as a playing field to support the health and well-being of Llangollen residents.
    • Increased vehicle traffic.
    • Increased demand on local services.

    Site Name: Land off Maesmawr Road, Llangollen – Option 1
    Site Ref: CS-03E-107

    Maesmawr Road – Option 1

    Site Name: Land off Maesmawr Road, Llangollen – Option 2
    Site ref: CS-03E-108

    Maesmawr Road – Option 2. Includes Option 1 and the field next door. This is a much bigger site than Option 1.

    Site Name: Maesmawr Road, adjacent to Tyn Y Wern, Llangollen
    Site Ref: CS-03E-077

    Land off Maesmawr road adjacent to Tyn y Wern

    Some thoughts that apply to all 3 of the Maesmawr road sites;

    • The site is large and so development would significantly alter the character of the town, and local services would struggle to cope.
    • Employment within the town cannot support a site of this size, meaning increased commuting out of the town.
    • The site is on the edge of town, and would pushing out the development boundary.
    • The site has poor transport links. Birch Hill is a narrow and already busy road and would form the main access to amenities from the site.
    • The site is too far out of the centre of town for Active Travel to be realistic.
    • Development of the site would have significant negative visual impact on the valley.
    • Development of the site would mean that the valley would lose important agricultural land, reducing potential for the agricultural industry.

    Have your say

    To have your say either…

    Click here to visit the council’s consultation page. This contains lots of background information and a link to the consultation form.

    OR

    Complete the Consultation Response Form and return it by emailing: planningpolicy@denbighshire.gov.uk or
    posting it to: Strategic Planning and Housing, Denbighshire County Council, PO Box 62,Ruthin, LL15 9AZ

    The deadline for submissions is 30th August 2019.

  • School closures and wind turbines

    School closures and wind turbines

    Schools hold small communities together, they give a village a focus point and allow parents to meet up and make friends. They allow children to get to know, and value their surroundings and the people who live within them. Strong communities promote positive, environmentally aware values.

    Denbighshire council are currently in the process of what they call, ‘modernisation’ of the county’s primary schools. Closures are amongst some of the council’s proposals. There are many reasons cited for closing small community schools; surplus places, difficultly recruiting headteachers and rising overheads. In the end it all comes down to a lack of funds. By closing Ysgol Llandrillo, Denbighshire council will make a revenue saving of approximately £31,000 per annum. They will also avoid the maintenance backlog of around £140,000.

    Between two of villages affected by the school closure, Cynwyd and Llandrillo, Scottish Power Renewables are proposing to build a wind farm. The Mynydd Mynyllod wind farm. The company promises to provide the local community with £2000 for every MW installed per annum. IF all 25 of the proposed turbines are installed, then this equates to an annual income of £150,000.

    There are concerns in the area about the visual and economic impact the wind farm could have. The money on offer by Scottish Power, the ‘community benefit’, is seen by those campaigning against the wind farm as being little more than a bribe. The money would be made available to a wide area surrounding the wind farm, and so directing the money towards education in Llandrillo would require cooperation from a number of local communities. The council would also need to find a way of making an alternative funding source fit the ‘Modernisation’ agenda imposed upon them by the Welsh Government.

    Wind farm money could present an opportunity for this area. However there are lots of differing interests within the area. If anything positive is to come out of the changes currently being proposed, both to eductation and landscape, then it is community cooperation that will be the key.