A RESIDENTIAL development of 10 houses near Penallt has been approved by county council planners at a planning meeting today (6th September).

The development, which includes six affordable homes and four market homes, will be sited on the south west edge of the village of Penallt in Pentwyn.

The site is currently in agricultural use, and when the application was made was being used as pasture land for horses.

There was contention when councillors noted the lowering in size and change in visual style of the six affordable homes. County Councillor Debby Blakebrough remarked on the size of the houses, explaining how they were smaller than the standards set by the Welsh Government, and although the rule was flexible, “affordable housing is meant to mean affordable and not cheap and cheerful.”

However, there was praise for the proportion of affordable houses to market houses planned for the development. Councillors highlighted how other developers of bigger housing sites within the county had deemed the Welsh Assembly’s recommended figure of 35 per cent affordable housing as unsustainable.

Two councillors voted to reject the plans whilst the remaining councillors approved them.