Month: July 2017

Bypass Planning Application

Posted on By admin

 

The Snowdonia National Park Authority has now sent out letters notifying interested parties that Gwynedd Council has applied for planning permission to build a bypass at Llanbedr. There is a deadline of 21 days from 27th July 2017 to submit objections. The full application documents are available for inspection at their Penrhyndeudraeth offices during normal working hours, and also on-line at authority’s website at: www.snowdonia-npa.gov.uk

During the nearly four years during which this scheme has been in preparation,  neither Gwynedd Council or Llanbedr Community Council have dared refer to it as a bypass, nor have either of these supposedly democratic bodies taken any steps to ensure that the community is generally aware of the downside of such a development as well as any benefits it may possibly offer. That is the reason why Protect Llanbedr exists.

If you would like to consider Gwynedd Council’s proposals in a more detail than the politicians Continue reading “Bypass Planning Application” →

Unforeseen Consequences?

Posted on By admin

When the clerk to a small rural local council elsewhere — one not unlike Llanbedr Community Council — saw the plan of the proposed Llanbedr bypass, her first reaction was, “I suppose they are going to infill”. She had immediately noticed that if the bypass is built, it will cut off quite a large triangle of land between the new embankments on which the will run and the village.

Now everyone knows that the UK has an acute housing shortage. Local authorities are under enormous pressure from central government to find more and more land that new homes can be built on. So once a road scheme encloses land on the edge of an existing community it is quite usual to revise the local plan so that, even if the area is green field land, development can take place in future.

The other morning Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State for Transport, was interviewed on the BBC Radio4 Today programme. Continue reading “Unforeseen Consequences?” →

An Alternative to the Bypass

Posted on By Gwyn Llanbedr

Introduction

Most of the businesses in the Llanbedr village say they rely for most of their income on tourists and much of that from either passing trade or from those who see what the village has to offer as they pass through and return later – if only we had some decent parking for them! You only have to see how quiet it is in the Winter to realise this. Quite understandably most of the businesses do not wish to speak out as they believe that they would receive a lot of ill-will from some in the community.

What about us having pavements on the road and traffic calming so we can all walk to the village feeling safer but still allowing the businesses to survive?

There is an alternative to a Llanbedr bypass.

  • These proposals will cost a small fraction of the £14.3 million bypass.
  • They will achieve all of Gwynedd Council’s stated transport objectives (see below)
  • They score highly against the Welsh Government’s Impact Area criteria (see below)
  • They will be less damaging to the environment.
  • They will not damage the views from the village.
  • They will not increase the background noise in the village.
  • They will not increase the flood risk in the village.
  • They do not compromise the Shoreline Management Plan.
  • They will support the businesses on the main road that depend on passing trade for their survival.
  • They will ensure that pedestrians feel safe on the road.
  • They will protect existing footpaths.
  • They will not harm the setting of the Meini Hirion standing stones.
  • They will ensure that we do not suffer from the sort of junctions that made the Dolgellau bypass a death trap.
  • They will curtail speeding and make it safer for vehicles to join the main road.
  • They will provide proper parking for visitors who wish to enjoy the village and its hinterland.
  • They will improve the traffic flow especially at the Mochras Road junction.
  • They will provide improved access to the airfield should development occur there.

No-one is suggesting that these proposals will be easy to achieve, but the end result has to be worth the effort. If necessary, they can be introduced in stages to spread the cost.

If there had been proper consultation from the outset these proposals could have been independently assessed and the taxpayer could have saved the £1 million already spent. Continue reading “An Alternative to the Bypass” →