PEOPLE in Abergele will fight on against huge planning changes after a landmark victory.
The latest move saw Conwy County Council’s cabinet throw out controversial plans for a gypsy and traveller site in south-east Abergele which was part of the Local Development Plan.
The plan was faced a wave of opposition from Abergele residents, with the content of more than 1,500 protests during the consultation period taken into account when Conwy opted to remove references to the search area.
Although the gypsy and traveller camp was the main cause for LDP concern for Abergele residents, there has also been strong opposition to a planned new relief road, housing developments and potential threats to playing fields in the town.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Abergele LDP Action Group said the fight will continue against the proposed developments.
He said: “The fact is that the market town of Abergele has suffered unprecedented development over the past 20 years with the resulting loss of virtually all green open spaces, and simply cannot cope with any further large-scale housing development.
“Rather than destroying the few remaining open spaces we have, surely it makes more sense to utilise existing allocated land such as the business park lying virtually empty, not to mention other in-fill sites such as ATS, the old doctors’ surgery, and surplus land on Peel Street.”
Clwyd West AM Darren Millar, who received hundreds of letters voicing opposition to the LDP, is now calling for more to be done to prevent other opposed Abergele LDP proposals developing.
He said: “The campaign will not stop here. We may have won this important battle, but there is still more work to be done to protect the town from the loss of local playing fields to unnecessary housing and a relief road.”
Conwy County Council is set to wait for the findings of its gypsy traveller accommodation needs assessment before deciding what action to next take for the site.
Stan Yates, Conwy’s planning policy manager, said: "If that assessment shows a need for a permanent or transit site in the county, then a site will have to be identified in the development plan.
“But in the meantime, cabinet members have agreed with the officers' recommendations to remove the gypsy and traveller site search area from the deposited LDP."