Fight against delayed plan to build 36 houses on Danescourt Woods and Meadow set for December hearing

The planning application – last scheduled to be heard in October – will be discussed after a site visit

A MUCH-DELAYED application to build 36 houses on the site of Danescourt Woods and Meadow is finally expected to be heard on December 7.

The current plans for houses and an access road to be built on the greenfield site were first submitted in February 2020.

Taff Housing has received 700 objections to the plan as well as a petition of 2,300 signatures, with further support from councillors, MP Kevin Brennan and MS Mark Drakeford.

The application, proposed by Taff Housing on behalf of Nabatean Limited, has already had five amendments in the four years since it was first put forward.

A meeting on October 5, at which the plans were expected to be heard, was postponed and the application was not on the agenda at the following month’s meeting. The next opportunity to discuss the application is at the only planning meeting remaining before Christmas, on December 7.

Councillor Sean Driscoll has been pushing for a site visit to understand the issue further and this is now due to go ahead on December 4.

The issue has attracted some high-profile objections, including the leader of Wales.

In a September 2023 letter to Coun Dan De’ath, First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “This site is not a suitable candidate site for any form of development.”

Helen Stewart, the founder of the ‘Save Our Woods and Meadow at Danescourt’ Facebook Page, has been fighting to protect the site.

“Despite the success against the previous applications, the cards are really stacked against us,” she said.