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| This photo shows Dan-y-Gollen This 2003 development at Glangwryne just 1 km from Crickhowell on a brownfield site. This area is firmly in the Brecon Beacons National Park and comes under its Unitary Development Plan. New developments are only permitted within the designated areas of established settlements and in the main brownfield sites are targetted. However, there are too few of these to meet demand. After this infill sites are considered. The houses here are expensive and large but with small gardens - the modern way! |  |
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The land used to be part
of an army camp now closed and is the new home of World Challenge
Leadership adventure courses. The first annual Crickhowell Hot Air Balloon
festival is programmed for July 2003 - marketing tourism in the area. Part
of the site was sold for housing land. The neighbouring properties are
army houses.
This site is not sustainable in its own right and purchases have to be dependent on cars to access services. The National park's sated policy is to favour developments in larger settlements which have a higher sustainability index. However, this site brownfield) was too good to miss. |
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| This 1990s development was promoted as a televillage on the Upper House Farm site in Crickhowell. A brownfield and an infill site! The development was made to strict design standards using traditional materials and has great character. The local issueraged as to whether this was a real televillage or a scheme to get planning permission to build more houses in Crickhowell. At the time the houses were difficult to sell as they property market was depressed and they appeared expensive - now they seem well priced and popular. |  |
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As part of the planning and development process new affordable social housing for rent had to be provided. The photo of Cwrt Bannau shows terraced housing in character with the vernacular architecture of the area. The red sandstone stone cladding helps the houses to 'fit in' and not appear 'new'. Crickhowell and many of these A40 towns grew rapidly in the 1970s with brick built housing estates added to their edges. This led to a rise in population and a demand for more services. In 1983 Crickhowell was considered to have grown sufficiently to merit the construction of a brand new secondary school. Stricter planning controls in the 1980s and 1990s have led to an ageing population and a decline in the proportion of school aged children. The National Park has to address the problem of outmigration of young people and the provision of affordable homes for local people. These are common rural issues. | |
| The population figures for Crickhowell are very interesting in showing trends... 1961: 1367; 1971: 1286 - rural depopulation was occurring. Then the new estates were built... 1981 : 2052. Rapid counterurbanisation movement led to suburban sprawl on the edge of town. Then in 1991: 2166 - stabilisation and ageing.Across the valley from Crickhowell is the village of Llangattock - population 1981: 966 and in 1991: 1078. The photo shows the disputedBethesda Chapel site on the southern edge of the village which was given planning consent in 2003. The residents of the village argued that the site was greenfield and would break the National Park's own planning policy. |  |
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They argued he village had no more sewerage capacity and that road access was already too narrow and congested (see photo). After planning committee enquiries permission was given for a reduced number of properties (from 25 to 17) - so presumably they will be larger, more select and consequently more expensive! Again the development does not address the issue of affordable homes for local people. The A. M. Kirsty Williams said 'the new homes will be too expensive for local people trying to climb onto the property ladder' | |
| 'The National Park claims the development is need but these re-submitted plans dropped the smaller cheaper 2 bedroom homes in favour of keeping the larger more expensive homes' The National Park countered 'we have no grounds to refuse the final planning application. If we had done so the developers could have gone to appeal and in all probability claimed large costs against the Authority.The photo shows that Westbury Homes have acquired the land and are about to develop in the Autumn of 2003. |  |
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The neighbouring properties and a view across the valley to Crickhowell.Many of the develoments of the 1970s in Llangattock were bungalows whilst Crickhowell gained estates of detached houses. Many of these 1970s developments seem out of character with the stone built core of the settlements. More modern developments - presumably under stricter planning controls no - are designed to merge into the village. Llangattock has a DESIGN STATEMENT agreed between local residents and he National Park. Part of the objection to the Bethesda Chapel development was because the proposal seemed to contradict this document | |
| The late 1990s Churchfields development opposite the church in Llangattock has traditional character and fits in. This was also a brownfield site redevelopment. the site had a range of sizes including terraced but were very expensive. |  |
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The Rectory Hotel and Conference centre in Llangattock with 9 hole golf course. Tourism and some employment. | |
| The Chestnuts nursing
home provides care for the elderly and for the patients needing nursing
care. This creates some employment for local people.
The Usk Valley settlements like Crickhowell and Gilwern have no worse than intermediate rurality because of the good road access by A roads. |
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Hippo Campo frozen foods warehouse on the Elvicta Estate Crickhowell. This is a distribution retail company serving rural and south east Wales. | |