JAN 12TH 2011: TWO important council meetings take place on Feb 7th and Feb 23rd. This is when YOUR councillors – your elected representatives have the power to REMOVE Bodafon from the proposed site lists regarding housing development.
With sufficient pressure from YOU - the people THEY REPRESENT – they SHOULD make sure that Bodafon is taken off the list. It’s YOUR call.
There is an alternative : A similar sized plot off Queens Road…either side of the existing farm lane leading to Fferm Farm. Information to date suggests this land is lower quality agricultural land than Bodafon and national policy clearly states this MUST be used before land such as Bodafon. The site is number 122.
Issued by John Williams – Bodafon Fields Prservation Association.
Press Release: from Dan Worsley August 30th 2011:
You may recall that we had the march on Llandudno prom to express public opposition to the Council’s excessive housing allocations in the LDP. During her speech that day Councillor Janet Finch Saunders, now Assembly Member, pledged to call a special meeting of Conwy County Council to debate the LDP and its housing allocations in particular. She has fulfilled her promise and called for the meeting which will be held at 10am on Thursday, 8th September, 2011 at Bodlondeb. In the past some councillors and council officers have protested that they were forced into high housing allocations by the Welsh Government but since then Janet Finch Saunders AM and Darren Miller AM have asked questions in the Assembly on this issue. The First Minister and Housing Minister have answered that LDPs are decided locally without government interference!! If they are as good as their word then this would enable our Councillors to decide this issue based on local evidence and needs free from external interference. The truth is apart from a need for some social housing there are 500 more deaths than births annually in Conwy. A major cause of our population decline is our young people are leaving in large numbers because there is a shortage of well paid jobs in North Wales. We have a beautiful county so there is always a demand from across the border and Conwy caters for around 1750 in-migrants annually. The majority of these are retired and the next largest group are commuters to England. This demand is not a need and we should not be expending our finite resources of the countryside to cater for it.
This is the most important decision our council has had to make in a generation and I would urge them to make sure they are prepared and fully informed before making a decision which will have irreversible consequences for all of us. The message to our councillors is : “Do you want to be remembered for having destroyed our county or for having saved it? Elections are due in May 2012 and the electorate will be informed which way their councillor voted on this important issue?” I would also urge as many members of the public as possible to contact their councillor and also to attend as observers at the meeting to bear witness.
MORE THAN 15-HUNDRED SIGN THE PETITION (April 2011 )
A petition containing 1,582 signatures was handed in to planners at Conwy County Borough Council objecting to the proposal to build 65 dwellings on one of Llandudno’s Bodafon Fields.
It marked the end of a very short 6 week period for objections to the council’s controversial Local Development Plan.
” What an amazing result….in such a short space of time so many people have joined forces to fight this proposal. Feelings are running very high in the community of Llandudno. Over the years we have fought a number of times to protect Bodafon Fields from development and clearly the message to planners yet again…is Hands Off Bodafon Fields ” said John Williams, leader of the Bodafon Fields Preservation Association.
Cllr Janet Finch Saunders, ward councillor for Craig y Don and Welsh Assembly Member has arranged a special meeting of the council on Thursday Sept 8th. (2011)
John Williams added : “The official consultation period may have come to an end…but the campaign will go on for as long as it takes to get this site out of the plan. This is already being discussed by politicians in Cardiff and in London and we will make sure it remains high profile until common sense prevails “.
Earlier press releases below for info :
MASS PROTEST MARCH AGAINST CONWY’S DEVELOPMENT PLAN (April 2011)
Campaigners across Conwy protesting against council plans to build thousands of new houses are being urged to join a mass protest march through Llandudno this Easter Saturday.
Dan Worsley from Glan Conwy who is leading the weekend protest claims the proposals are in fact,an Assembly Development Plan which has very damaging implications for the people and their communities in the whole of Conwy County.
“Throughout the area there are protest groups opposing new housing developments, like the one on Bodafon Fields in Llandudno. I appeal to all these people to join us on Saturday and tell politicians at both national and local level that we have had enough. This is not democracy” he explained.
“The small town of Abergele is expected to absorb 875 new houses, 80 in Glan Conwy, 65 in Craig-y-Don, Llandudno and so the list goes on “.
In 2009, Conwy’s attempt at putting together its Local Development Plan proposed 6,300 new houses throughout the county upto the year 2022…more than the council wanted, but after consultation, that was rejected by the Assembly who said the allocation should be for 8,000 properties. Eventually both sides reluctantly agreed to a figure of 6,800 with contingency plans for a further 1,100 houses.
” Worst of all…in our experience, council officials have been advising people wishing to object to the plan that they need to complete a five page respresentation form … that’s after reading a five page guidance document, which might aswell be written in Latin. The whole process frightens people off thereby reducing the numbers of valid objections. Again this is completely UN-democratic ” he said. “ On top of all that, many many people were told they needed to suggest an alternative site within their community and supply detailed evidence to support this. In essence all people need to do is write a simple letter or email to the planners voicing their objections. Having said that, their reasons must be valid and relevant to any of the 10 Tests of Soundness, to arrive no later that Tuesday April 26th…the day immediately after Easter Monday, so people need to act very quickly.”
Mr Worsley has already held a number of meetings with campaigners throughout the county and says the mood is one of anger and dismay. “It’s about time the people of Conwy made their voices heard.”
The march will start at the main Pier Entrance in Llandudno at 11 am this EASTER SATURDAY April 23rd and will proceed along the Promenade ending at Bodafon Fields. ” I hope as many people as possible will turn up and bring placards telling our politicians enough is enough “.
Objections should be sent to Planning Policy Service, Conwy County Borough Council, 26 Castle Street, Conwy. LL32 8Y. OR emailed to cdll-ldp@conwy.gov.uk A sample letter of objection regarding the Bodafon Fields site in Llandudno can be found on the website www.bodafon.co.uk
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MOSTYN ESTATES CONFIRM…WE WANT THAT FIELD FOR HOUSING ! (March 2011 )
Mostyn Estates have spoken openly about their plans to build 65 dwellings on one of Llandudno’s controversial Bodafon Fields…right in the heart of the resort. They describe it as a valuable piece of land and want it to stay in Conwy Council’s draft Local Development Plan.
This comes despite a public meeting attended by more than 150 local residents who have pledged to do all they can to try to get the Bodafon site off the LDP lists of proposed housing sites.
Campaigners claim the LDP is flawed because vital information detailing how the land is protected have been omitted from the document.
Already there have been calls for a major inquiry by the Welsh Assembly .
The Bodafon Preservation Association says the whole area is proposed green wedge and prime agricultural land, protected from development under the National Assembly’s Policy Planning Document for the whole of Wales.
Conwy County Borough wants to see 65 properties on the site…but members of the Bodafon Preservation Association fear that will mark the beginning of the end for the fields which sit in the heart of the town.
The Assembly document clearly states that ALL other “inferior” quality land MUST be used before protected land is developed.
It’s now known that the Technical Services Division of the Welsh Assembly was consulted in January of last year about the Local Development Plan. The Bodafon site covers an area of 1.8 hectares
The Division replied saying “Due to limited resources and mindful of our remit concerning the national agricultural interest, I have only assessed those sites of 5 hectares and over”.
Bodafon was therefore never assessed purely because it’s less than 5 hectares in size. Its special status , green wedge and prime agricultural land, protected under the Assembly’s very own Policy Planning Wales document….was ignored because of limited resources.
Sources at Conwy County Borough Council have confirmed that as a result of the information from the Assembly’s own Technical Services Division “staff ( at Conwy Council ) concluded that the matter of agricultural land quality was NOT important in this instance “.
Association spokesman John Williams says the site must be taken out of the plan as a matter or urgency. “This proposed development is one horrific mistake . It would be a gross injustice for the whole of Llandudno”, views echoed by recently retired Assembly member Gareth Jones.
Members of the Association have met with senior Conwy Council planners.
“It is quite clear that if we don’t manage to get it out of the plan now this field WILL BE developed. That in itself will set a very dangerous precedent and within a very short period of time the rest of Bodafon Fields will be developed too” added Mr Williams .
“ This is a county wide plan to provide an additional 6,800 new homes throughout Conwy by 2022….but here in Llandudno the goal posts have been moved. Somehow the planners are looking at Llandudno in isolation. It’s a very worrying situation raising a number of serious questions that need detailed answers by politicians here in Conwy and in Cardiff” explained Mr Williams.
“These fields are an integral part of Llandudno’s tourism offer to hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. They are a huge part of the resort’s landscape. Llandudno would lose it’s green heart ” added Mr Williams.
** Campaigners have also set up a website www.bodafon.co.uk **
