Agenda and minutes

An amended plan showing the connection of the proposed pavement to the existing pavement on the northern side of Lon Masarn (adjacent to 34 Lon Mefus) has been received. This will form part of the S278 agreement with the Highways Authority.

Additional comments have been received from the Designing Out Crime Officer:

·       The pedestrian path/ cycleway that runs adjacent to properties at plots 29, 69 and 70 should be lit and side windows be installed to the side elevations of plots 29, 69 and 70 which should serve a habitable room (e.g. living room) and should be protected by defensible planting. The path should not run directly against the side of any property.

·       I would request that access from this path, if it stays as part of the development, onto this proposed new development be prevented by railings that are at least 2ms high and of a design that is difficult to scale. Also that the gate shown on the path adjacent to plot 29 should be moved forward adjacent to plot 69 to get rid of the dead space in this area as this could be a congregating point where anti -social behaviour may occur.

Four further letters of objection (2 from the same person have been received. Concerns raised are:

·       The design and features in the Home Zone in the SE corner lack the levels of design as the rest of the site. The Social housing do not enjoy the same parking standards as the private houses.

·       Lack of visitor parking – under provision of 26 spaces. The home zone parking area is cramped and doesn’t have any pavements.

·       The congestion caused by informal parking in the Home Zone would create potential access problems for both refuse and emergency services.

·       A minimum requirement that refuse and emergency vehicles would definitely be able to enter and leave the site in an appropriate manner.

·       The site is located at the top of a steep hill and contrary to the statement included by Highways it is not well located in terms of local amenities and proximity to regular public transport routes.

·       The affordable homes are not integrated well into the scheme.

·       The home zone in the SE corner contains 50% of the affordable housing – this is not a small cluster. They should be pepper-potted through the site to ensure a sense of community.

·       Potential for crime in the Home Zone in SE corner due to pedestrian & cycle path which has limited observation opportunities. This should be redesigned.

·       The tactile paving in the S278 agreement will create a desire line across the grass verge – will be dangerous and damage the verge. Steps should be provided

·       This is not a call for rejection but an appeal for negotiation – comments made are in order to engage in the process in the hope that they might improve the proposed development to the benefit of the current and future local residents.

·       Lon Masarn is heavily used in rush hour. The roads might not be able to handle extra traffic.

·       Sketty School is over-subscribed – the developer should be forced to pay for an expansion of the school. The proposed houses are small boxes with an unimaginative design.

·       This application should be declined and the developer forced to come up with a better plan for this plot of land.

Swansea Council should ensure that Bellway only sell properties in the development as freehold ensuring that people aren't stuck with ever increasing ground rent. Traffic exiting the site will travel directly opposite pavement. Higher parts of Lon Masarn suffer from icy roads in colder months, but do not benefit from gritting lorries – this will be a significant risk to parents and children due to the slope and narrowness of road. Residents are concerned regarding the potential flood risk to existing residents in Lon Masarn and Lon Mefus if the soakaway system fails. It is therefore essential that the owners of these properties are all provided with the emergency number and that their interests are officially recorded in the maintenance contract. It must also be officially recorded that there is not, and never will be, any financial liability on any of these properties, as the installation of the soakaway is wholly the responsibility of the Bellway development, and was a term of the site being approved.  

One further letter from a local resident via Councillor Peter Jones has been received which raises concerns regarding the Highway Officer’s comments:

·       No direct reference to the safety aspect concerning the blind bend.

·       The incredibly low predicted traffic flow out during the peak morning period, where normal project management principles would dictate that a worst case scenario was used for key aspects, such as road safety as well as primary school children

·       The “Layout” observations state the width of Lon Masarn at various points, but fail to point out that it is often no more than a single track road as it is used by residents for parking. It states “ ..it is technically wide enough for two vehicles to pass,” yet having talked extensively about the width of the road, fails to identify the types of vehicles that could pass there. No mention was made relating to the micro-climate of the higher parts of Lon Masarn with respect to ice on roads and pavements. It states “… it is likely that emergency and refuse vehicles will be able to enter and leave the site in an appropriate manner.”  What does this mean? Will someone parking on the road impact on this statement?

·       It states “..The site is well located in terms of local amenities and proximity to regular public transport routes.” - Where are the local amenities that are readily accessible without using a car? What are the bus services that the existing residents are unaware of? We are aware of the 29 and 39 services, but the 39 service only runs for nine months a year, and does not run in the evenings, week-ends, nor bank holidays. The 29 service does not run on Sundays, Bank Holidays nor in the evenings.