In a surprise development to the long-runing saga of ongoing housing plans for Raglan, the Welsh Government has overturned the planning permission granted by the county council.

It was looking likely that building 111 houses on land south of Monmouth Road was a ’dead cert’ after Monmouthshire County Council gave the go-ahead for a large-scale development which had spawned an Action Group who campaigned against the plans although others in the village were pleased to see the percentage of affordable homes on offer.The plans were called in by the Welsh Government who can take a final decision on plans they deem are too important to be decided at a local level and after visiting the site, the planning inspector appointed by the Welsh Government ruled that the plan should be turned down.The reason the Welsh Planning Directorate wanted a second opinion was that the application was on a greenfield site “outside the Raglan settlement” and should clearly demonstrate the creation of “a well-connected sustainable development which minimises the need to travel” and promotes “healthy forms of travel”.It was noted the application admitted that S106 monies (development money) was to be relied upon to improve local bus services and that the motor car was given the “highest priority” as a way of commuting.This didn’t sit well with their National Policy on transport heirachy and got the plans off to a bad start.The county council, already with egg on their face following an admission of incorrect housing data which meant they had to decide a second time on the plans, were hoping this would help them to hit their housing target which had already forced them to abandon their housing plan for 2014-2021 as they had fallen behind.The Raglan Village Hall Association, reeling from the blow of lost lottery money, were hoping that the S106 monies from the 111 houses would help them to boost their now-depleted funding for a new hall.However, the Welsh ministers decided that although the plans did not impact on the historical aspects of the village, he placed “significant weight” on the loss of agricultural land and said Raglan does “not perform significantly well in relation to the transport heirachy” of promoting sustainable transport.Councillor Bob Greenland, Cabinet Member for Enterprise and Land Use Planning said: “We respect the decision to refuse planning permission for this development in Raglan and are still carefully considering the decision and reasoning.  It is, however, very disappointing that this opportunity to provide much needed housing including 39 affordable homes has been lost.”Welsh AM, Nick Ramsay said: ““The inspector’s report is very clear. This planning application was in contravention of Wales’ Wellbeing of Future Generations Act which requires developments to be sustainable and well connected by public transport, so residents don’t have to rely on the motor car at a time when we are trying to decarbonise the economy.“I think to avoid this type of situation in future, the Welsh Government should issue much clearer guidance to local planning authorities so they are fully versed with the increasing complexity of Welsh legislation when they are taking planning decisions.”Alex Dyer, Chairman of the Raglan Village Action Group, welcomed the Welsh Government Minister Julie James’ decision to refuse planning permission. He praised the planning inspector’s report which reflected so well the evidence put forward by the Action Group, and by County Councillor Penny Jones, the community council and the local conservation group. The result reflected the opposition of a whole community against a scheme that has been found to be disproportionate in size to the village of Raglan, contrary to the principles of sustainable transport, damaging to the setting of the village’s historic conservation area and landscape/agricultural environment, and contrary to MCC’s own Local Development Plan. No matter that the developer, represented by a leading QC and supported by MCC planners, had promoted the scheme, Mr Dyer felt that the decision to refuse the 111 houses should restore Monmouthshire citizens’ faith in the planning system: “a united community can win against all the odds”.