Urgent Crowdfunding Help needed to halt damage to Historic Rossett Village from major housing development.
We’re raising £30,000 to enable Rossett to fund a High Court challenge to the Wrexham Council for allowing an unsound layout, flood and road safety risks to 132 new houses.
Please donate to my JustGiving Crowdfunding Page and help make it happen:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rossett-challenge
See our story below and feel free to browse our website and read about our struggle.
Rossett Village needs fighting funds for a key High Court challenge to Wrexham Council for allowing an unsound layout, road safety dangers and flood risks to 132 new houses.
Our homes are at risk because the Council are railroading this development through via the developer and their planning officer – no matter what. The Planning Committee is being treated with contempt as are we!
Essential fields in the green barrier which are crucial to prevent flooding for the surrounding houses have been authorised to be built on after a controversial Planning Committee Meeting on 7th February 2022. This crowd funding is to fight for the flood safety of the community,protect access to and from the local schools. Moreover, our doctors will be further overloadedand other infrastructure will suffer from this development. The money raised will allow us to progress a Judicial Review. The deadline is the 25th March 2022.
There has been an unfair, biased hearing in which all arguments have not been heard and considered properly by the Planning Committee Councillors who were told they could not vote against the plans. The biased Planning Case Officer’s report has not properly taken into consideration any written objections. He has just reported what the developers say. Thus, proving that written objections carry little or no weight at WCBC Reserved Matters Planning Meetings.
This planning application was originally and justifiably rejected upon a vote by members of the Planning Committee in January 2019. This decision was overturned on Appeal by the Inspector and Welsh Minister in part due to a Statement of Common Ground submitted by the WCBC Officers and Developers that there was no dispute on the grounds of the Council Refusal.
Further, the inspector made his assessment of the Footway alterations to Holt Road in particular which have since been subject to comment by the Equality Commission that WCBC will potentially be in breach of their Duty of Care to persons with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 if constructed. Even the Developers Road Safety Audit suggests 4 grounds that pedestrian and vehicle collisions will actually increase.
The recent 2021 Storm Christoph flooding in and around Rossett & Lavister is evidence of drainage issues which was one of the reasons (alongside highway safety issues) that the community were strongly objecting to the development. Granting Reserved Matters Planningpermission for this development has gone against the fundamental UDP general development principles;
“i) Ensure that development does not result in, or is subject to, flooding, soil erosion, landslides or contamination, either on or off the site…) Secure the development of sustainable communities, through the promotion of the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area.”
The development site has no pedestrian access links under the control of the developer as all the land on the western boundary outside the development site is owned by the Council or a 3rd Party so that the Planning Committee cannot sanction access over land not under the developers control; the questions this raises over implementation must be challenged. In addition the Plans approved by the Planning Committee do not match the Outline Planning Consent Approvals nor do they accord with layout, scale and ecology provisions.
Flood ponds are to be created on both sites which will be a danger to recreational users of the open spaces and the site levels are to be increased to direct surface and flood waters off the site into surrounding areas and to cap it all, over height houses are to be built all in the countryside on the raised site ground levels, contrary to the maximum ridge heights stipulatedon the original application that went to appeal.
However, the WCBC Planning Authority and the Developer have taken advantage of the situation to rush the process, cut corners and make a decision without the required precautionary approach that is expected on such a controversial matter. Due to the way in which those concerned members of the Planning Committee were advised that they could not vote against it so they were told they must abstain. Accordingly, due to this illegal advicethe development was approved with 7 votes to approve and 8 abstentions.
This decision is in our view totally wrong and flawed and the WCBC must be held to account in the High Court to rectify and overturn a decision that is completely wrong on many counts and will, if not challenged, affect every resident in the village of Rossett, the surrounding areas and ultimately throughout Wrexham.
Thank you all in advance for your support