Code No. and Name and Address of Description and Location of Date Received Applicant Proposed Development 19/0536/RET Mr R Jones Retain and complete change 15.07.2019 Land At Former Station of use of land to 5 no. Gypsy House Traveller pitches and Rhymney associated works including, 5 NP22 5QG no. mobile home, 5 no. touring caravan, and hardstanding Land At Former Station House Merthyr Road Rhymney Bridge Llechryd APPLICATION TYPE: Retain Development Already Carried Out SITE AND DEVELOPMENT Location: The application site is at Rhymney Bridge, Llechryd, and occupies a field immediately to the east of the Twisted Chimney roundabout. It is sandwiched between the slip road from the A465 to the north, and the B4527 to the south. Site description: The site was formerly a lozenge shaped field, with a small copse in the south-eastern part. It sits in a bowl created by the embankments of the surrounding roads, with a significant number of trees along the northern side screening it from the Heads of the Valleys road. It was occupied earlier this year by the applicant who has parked a number of caravans on the site, installed a portable building overlooking the B4527, and built a shed on the northern boundary. He has also erected a 1.8m high timber fence along the eastern and southern sides of the site. There is an existing access from the B4527 at the eastern end of the site. Development: It is proposed to regularise the occupation of the site for Gypsy Traveller accommodation by the provision of five pitches on the land. Each pitch would accommodate a mobile home, a touring caravan and two parking spaces. The pitches would be surfaced with stone, as would the access through the site from the road. The existing trees would be retained. The portacabin, which is currently used as a day room would also be retained in its existing position, as would a timber store which has been erected along the northern boundary. A supporting letter from Travelling Ahead: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Advice & Advocacy Service, states that there are to be 5 family units consisting of 8 adults and 10 children to be accommodated on the proposed site. Cont…. Application No.19/0536/RET Continued Supporting information has been submitted, which in summary addresses, amongst other things the following points. • The access is satisfactory. • Landscaping if necessary can be dealt with by condition. • Policy CW21 of the LDP is relevant. • Community facilities are no more than a 19-minute walk away from the site. • No primary business use is proposed. Any such activities will be ancillary to the residential use. • Utilities including waste disposal and recovery can be resolved by condition. • The Special Landscape Area policy does not preclude development. • The wider landscape setting will not be harmed. • Welsh Government Circular 005/2018 Planning for Gypsy, Traveller and Showpeople Sites should be taken into account. • On the basis of case law: • the absence of an alternative site has to be afforded considerable weight • the likelihood of a roadside existence resulting from a refusal should be considered • the personal circumstances of the applicant - a Romany Gypsy - are able to be taken into account and can potentially outweigh any planning harm • the best interests of the children must be treated as a primary concern based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child • the Local Planning Authority must carry out an article 8 structured proportionality decision in order to properly assess human rights considerations • there is a public sector equality duty because the applicant and his family are Romany Gypsies Dimensions: The site has an area of 0.35 hectares. The mobile homes would be approximately 12m long and 6m wide, whilst the touring caravans would be approximately 7.5m long and 2.5m wide. The portacabin is approximately 7.5m long and 3m wide. PLANNING HISTORY 2005 TO PRESENT 10/0040/ADV - Install interpretation panels - Granted - 09.04.2010. Cont…. Application No.19/0536/RET Continued POLICY LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN Site Allocation: The site is within a special landscape area (SLA NH1.1 Upper Rhymney Valley). The Appendix to the LDP sets out the following features of the SLA. Need - The area represents one of the most open upland areas within the County Borough, abutting the Brecon Beacons National Park. - The dualling of the A465 Heads of the Valleys has changed part of the character of the area, and will increase development pressures with increased accessibility. - Whilst this has certain negative effects upon the quality of the landscape it reinforces the need to ensure the quality of the remainder of the area is maintained. - In terms of landscape structure it forms the northern edge of the coalfield and shows evidence of historic mine workings. Coherence - The area covers the northern part of the Upper Rhymney Valley, primarily to the north of the A465 corridor. - It provides a distinctive upland landscape unit, formed primarily by the boundaries of adjacent local authorities. - It abuts the Brecon Beacons National Park and forms a natural buffer zone to further protect the Park's nationally important landscape character and quality. Consensus - It relates very closely to an existing SLA designated under the Rhymney Valley Landscape Strategy. - Professional stakeholders have supported the designation. Primary Landscape Qualities and Features Cultural Landscapes - It is a simple, open landscape with a number of recent regeneration projects in the area, primarily in the form of the improved A465 corridor, which has both increased in scale and size. - An important example of industrial heritage, with areas of reclaimed land and spoil tips. - There are examples of various historic and contemporary human occupation and exploitation in the form of prehistoric monuments, redundant industrial workings and transport systems. Cont…. Application No.19/0536/RET Continued Landscape Habitats - Despite largish areas of improved grassland being present there are also large areas of valuable grassland present. There is a good mixture of marshy, neutral and acid grasslands. Areas of semi-improved and unimproved grassland are fragmented within the wider improved grassland landscape. Uniform improved grassland is present resulting from reclamation of former mine workings. - Upland river corridor and enclosed upland pasture. Also riparian woodland / scrub. Geological Landscape - It exhibits the results of glaciation and forms the northern edge of the pennant sandstone outcrop that underpins the South Wales coalfield. With broad, moderately steep-sidedvalleys controlled by south-dipping muddominated coal measures (upper carboniferous). Valley floor contains alluvium and glacial sand / gravel. - Numerous derelict mine workings, shafts, adits, colliery waste tips and partially reclaimed opencast workings present within and immediatley adjoining the landscape, which gives it a particularly industrial feel and character. Visual and Sensory -Strong visual links with the Brecon Beacons. - Views of the upland area are extensive and very open with minimal field boundaries and patterns. Adjacent upland areas dominate views into the landscape. - Strong underlying feel of industrial past. Industrial remnants include old railway sidings and earthworks. - Overhead pylons are visual detractors, and the A465 has both noise and movement impacts. - Area is currently predominantly used as rough grazing and agriculture. Historical Landscapes - An extensive area of unenclosed open moorland, forming the easternmost outline of Merthyr Common, which has remained relatively, unchanged since the 19th Century, in spite of encroachment by industrial extraction activity, in particular lime and ironstone quarries. - The area contains numerous water management features that form part of the extensive remains of Dowlais Free Drainage System. There are also quarries associated with the Dowlais Ironworks, which together with the water management features represent a significant concentration of 19th Century industrial water-management features of considerable historical importance. Cont…. Application No.19/0536/RET Continued Key Policy, Management and Development Control Issues Long Term - Future development proposals should not see the loss of any historic environment or geological or geomorphological features present within the landscape. - Undertake mine spoil and post-industrial land reclamation schemes where necessary and in circumstances where it will benefit the overall landscape. The significant historic and cultural aspects of the landscape should not be lost as a result of a reclamation scheme. - Encourage appropriate management of notable habitats - ensure areas of semi- improved, acid and marshy grassland are not degraded to improved grassland. -Encourage sympathetic landscape management practice including removing Japanese Knotweed - implement a Japanese knotweed strategy. - Protect elements of Dowlais Free Drainage water management system. Medium Term - Prevent further loss of overall landscape quality and character on the settlement edge as a result of development. The settlement edges are sensitive and due care and consideration needs to be given to the wider landscape setting and character when making these development decisions. - Minimise the visual and noise detractors in the landscape, including light pollution from the introduction of road lighting and additional large scale features such as pylons and wind turbines. - Encourage reduced grazing - stock grazing will prevent