Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham Council together with the Clwydian Range AONB partnership have come together to create a new Supplementary Planning Guidance Note to guide both applicants and the council’s planning departments when going through the planning application process. The public and interested parties are now asked to submit their comments on the Draft Paper.
Once the Guidance Note has been approved, it will be a consideration when determining an application within the AONB. It is hoped that this Guidance Note, once approved, will make it easier and clearer for applicants, agents and councils as to what is required when developing in the AONB or near to it.
Hywel Davies of Rostons stated “Having read the Guidance Note, it is clear that there is more pressure on retaining the landscape features of the AONB and its natural beauty. Having said that, the Guidance Note does include a section on agriculture and remains positive about agricultural developments provided there is a definite functional need for the development. There is also emphasis on the size, scale, materials used and the mitigating measures used to ‘screen’ the development. The Guidance Note recognises that the future care and management of the landscape will be heavily reliant on agriculture and therefore sustainable and efficient agricultural holdings within the AONB will be vital.
The Guidance Note states that we must ensure that the farming community sustains a living, it is therefore positive to see the Guidance Note mentioning agricultural buildings and sustainable tourist development.
The Guidance Note however does not show great positivity for renewable energy developments, stating that even small scale renewable projects could impact the AONB setting, whether the development is inside or outside the designation”
A copy of The Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance Note can be viewed by clicking: http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/planning_portal/plan_policy/draft_supplementary_pgnote.htm
Any feedback will need to be received by any of the councils or the AONB partnership by the 29th January 2018.