RESIDENTS living near a new development where 25 houses are being built have raised concerns about flooding, the height of the properties as well as a loss of sunlight.

Penrhyn Homes are building two and three-bedroomed homes on the Coast Road in Rhyl.

The site was bought by Penrhyn Homes in January 2018. Planning for a residential development was approved in 1999 and there was a token start in 2004.

Although the address of the development – named The Links – is Rhyl, it falls on the border of Rhyl and Prestatyn and impacts residents living on Cherry Close and the Garnett Drive area in Prestatyn as their houses are on the boundary.

Original plans were said to be for a storey-and-a-half house, where the top floor nestled into the roof space and were built off the ground.

Builders moved on to the site in January and but as two buildings went up, residents revealed their “shock” that these were “much higher”. They are now calling for the houses to be reduced in height to match original planning approval and plans granted in 1999/2004 and for a full-application to be resubmitted.

They say they fear what was a nice retirement area – with sunset views – will become an “overdeveloped” estate.

Resident Todd Evans, 36, who is a builder, is one of the Prestatyn residents affected. He said: “There are a lot of elderly people who are struggling to get their voice heard, so I feel it is my job to speak out.

“I won’t be hugely affected, as our house is in the corner, but my elderly neighbours are upset.

“The plans were for a storey and a half-house; then 19 years in January 2018, Penryhn Homes started building. As the first two buildings went up, we noticed they had built them ‘out of the ground’... quite some what and they were two-storeys high, not one and a half.

“Our concerns were raised to Denbighshire planning department and through a meeting, they advised the builder submitted a section 73, which is for minor amendments to an original passed plan.

“We are concerned about the size of the houses being built. As they are being built up and out the ground at plots 21 to 20, they sit more than one metre off ground level at the moment.

“Then they are 7.6 metres high, which makes them 8.6 metres, and they haven’t got to the bottom of the site yet, near our boundary, which will be even higher as the land dips down.

“My house sits at 5.3 metres from the ground, so it will be a massive difference.

“We also have concerns about the road layout, which now pushes houses on the plot further back to the boundary, making them even closer to residents. This will cause massive ‘shadowing’ and some houses will lose light.

“My next-door neighbours are in their 80s and have lived here for 30 years and the house at the back of them will be less than nine metres away and sitting more than three metres higher than their house.

“They enjoy sitting out in their conservatory in summer and now with these house so close and so high, it is harmful to their quality of living.

“I’ve been told the original plans passed don’t meet today’s regulations and that is why they are working to different ones. Considering the age of the plans, in my personal view, they should submit a full new application.”

And he added: “The land is a zone one flood risk area – the highest you can get.”

Penrhyn Homes have hit back, stating they met with their engineers, prior to construction work commencing, as they were aware the site was historically prone to flooding.

Engineers met with Denbighshire Council’s draining and planning department to discuss the proposal and consulted with Natural Resources Wales and according to the house-building company, a “slight change” was made to proposals. A Penrhyn Homes spokesman said: “The proposals meant a slight change to the finished floor level of the houses to protect the houses against any flooding and a full detailed sustainable drainage system within the site to stop any potential overrun on adjacent properties.

“A lot of residents seem to believe it is because of the level of the drains, but it has nothing to do with the drains; it is to deal with the flooding issue.

“Local residents keep complaining about flooding but we are actually preventing this from happening.

“We could actually build the houses are per approved plans from 1999 and this would affect the adjacent homes.”

Penrhyn Homes have submitted two applications to Denbighshire Council, which are out for public consultation.

One application (Brooklands Caravan Site) relates to details of highway works including layout, design, means of traffic calming, signage, drainage and construction of internal estate road.

The second, relates to the variation of a condition of planning permission to allow amendments to layout and design of approved plans.

The spokesman said: “With regards to the applications that have been submitted to the council, One is to comply with condition 10, which is the detail for the highways and flooding issues and the other is slight changes to the front appearance of the dwelling and any discrepancies we have from our plans to the plans from 1999.

“The problem we have had is the plans are so old there are slight discrepancies so we met with the council planning department and for everyone’s piece of mind agreed to submit a variation of condition application so everyone has their say.

“Everything we have amended is to meets today’s building regulations, flooding requirements and highways requirements, which actually benefit everyone.”

A Denbighshire Council spokesman said: “Planning permission, which was granted in 1999, does exist for a residential development on this site. The site lay dormant for some years until Penrhyn Homes recently acquired the land. Changes have been made to the plans which were permitted in 1999 and a formal planning process needs to be followed for those changes.

“The council has received a planning application outlining these changes and we have consulted residents on these changes. Officers will be assessing the impacts of the changes having regard to any material planning issues raised by residents.”

Prestatyn North ward councillor Paul Penlington said: “This development is quite concerning. Whilst planning applications were approved in 1999 and 2004, it is quite a cynical move on the developers’ part to think that still stands 14 years later.

“The suggested ‘amendments’ should not be allowed to progress to planning as amendments. I am in contact with Denbighshire County Council’s planning department to ascertain the legal position and push for this to be treated as a completely new application.”

Cllr Tony Flynn, also of Prestatyn North Ward, said: “I share in the concerns over this development. After the 21-day consultation is over, we will meet with planning to see how this can be resolved.

“There are issues that should have been sorted out before building commenced.

“The biggest area of concern as far as I can see is the development is not in line with the plans that were approved in 1999.

“The residents deserve answers to all of their concerns and we will, as their ward councillors, be supportive.”