CALLS have been made for a Judicial Review to be held into the decision by Powys Planners to give the go-ahead to a new housing development.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s planning committee on October 1, outline planning permission was given for nine homes on the site of Fairview Garage, a former petrol station in Guilsfield, near Welshpool.

Guilsfield Community Council thought that the application was on hold because of the Covid-19 crisis and had not given Powys County Council an opinion on the scheme.

Guilsfield Community Council met remotely on Monday, October 19, and discussed the issue.

Council chairman, Cllr Ian Harrison  said: “We were notified that PCC had approved the Fairview Garage development even though we had been led to believe the process was on hold.

“Cllr Jones notified us the evening before the planning committee by which time it was much too late.

“We were surprised and very unhappy that it had gone ahead.”

Cllr Harrison explained that the only people who can appeal against a decision are applicants.

“We have a number of options including putting in a complaint to the planning inspector, or maybe more than that,” said Cllr Harrison.

Powys County Councillor for Guilsfield, David Jones, who spoke against the application at the planning committee, said:  “What concerns me is that the site has two and a half times as many dwellings as the LDP (Local Development Plan) suggests is suitable for Powys.

“To my mind it is so far beyond the pale it should not have been approved.”

County Times:

The former garage at Guilsfield

He believed a judicial review could be the way forward as planning officers had “ignored their own guidelines” about the number of dwellings to fit on a site.

Cllr Glynne Turner, pointed out highways safety concerns because of the chicane system around the nearby primary school, which could be made worse with more people parking in the area.

Cllr Turner, proposed going ahead with forming a small committee to look into how to take the decision to a Judicial Review.

The council agreed unanimously.

At the planning meeting on October 1 questions were asked by a councillor whether the community council had an opinion on the plans.

Lead professional planning officer, Peter Morris, said that the authority had received correspondence overnight where Guilslfield Council had pointed out that the officer handling the application was giving them more time due to Covid-19.

But this planning officer had left the authority in May.

Guilsfield's council had not been able to discuss the application, as meetings had been cancelled from March amid the pandemic.

Mr Morris said that he understood the difficulties faced by community councils holding meetings through the Covid-19 lockdown,

He had advised councils that although they may struggle to meet, they could still submit comments on applications.

Mr Morris said: “There’s only so long we can wait, we’ve given them several months.”