A TOWN council has objected to future housing developments.

Abergele councillors have voted to present a unified front against Anwyl Homes’ proposal for 73 new houses on a greenfield site off Llanfair Road.

The town council cannot determine the outcome of proposal at Conwy County Borough Council’s planning committee, but its observations can be taken into consideration when members vote on the issue.

The move is also seen as representing the unified objections of 15 town councillors – following one abstention – to any further housing, which members fear would exacerbate the overdevelopment of the town.

Gele ward councillor Andrew Wood said: “Although our role as a town council means we can’t directly influence planning, it is significant that we felt the need to vote on what our observation would be – which we never do.

“We’re basically saying as a whole town that we’ve had enough of houses being built in Abergele before we see some upgraded infrastructure on the agenda, and will continue to do so for any developments not already agreed upon until we have a clear and concise indication of how Conwy County Brough Council propose to develop the town.”

The town council’s decision to submit an observation opposing Anwyl’s proposal – which is on a “contingency” site for development, should delays on other sites in the Welsh Government’s Local Development Plan (LDP) disrupt five-year housing targets – follows a temporary relaxation in technical advice pressuring local authorities to meet housing quotas.

According to the observation submitted to planning, Abergele has already received 40 per cent of the housing allocation of the LDP for the whole of Conwy county until 2022.

The observation reads: “Before any further development is undertaken, improvements to infrastructure is required, including the traffic access survey, parking issues and access to transport.

“The Llanfair Road site was a contingency site when the original LDP was developed and the area has already received hundreds of new houses which are currently under development.”

Chief among complaints with the proposal include residents of Ffordd Tan’r Allt and Lon Dirion, who are concerned that increase traffic will cause more motorists to use their estate as a “rat run” to avoid the town centre and reach the A547.

Last year, a survey commissioned by the county council found the junction at Lon Dirion and the A548 was already operating at, or near, capacity.

Cllr Wood added: “We’re not scaremongering and it’s not a question of ‘not in our backyard’, if you look at most of the objections in public consultation.

“The issues aren’t that people don’t want the houses, they’re concerned about traffic and the pressure it will put on our hospitals and schools.”