A POTENTIAL housing project that could build up to 24 houses in Tregynon has been discussed by villagers.

A drop-in session was held in the village hall on Thursday, July 11, when Welshpool based SWG Group outlined their proposals to build houses on land behind Bethany Chapel.

This land is already earmarked in the Local Development Plan (LDP) for housing.

Cllr Heulwen Hulme (Independent – Rhiwcynon) who represents the village, said: “It was well attended.  I was pleased to see that 90 people turned up and were told what the proposed layout and mix of houses  which includes some social housing, could be.

“Some of the concerns raised were whether the school (Ysgol Rhiwbechan) has the capacity to take children who would live there.

“Flooding, sewage and drainage is always a concern in Tregynon when it comes to new developments as it has been an issue in the past.”

A spokesman for SWG explained the proposals to the Local Democracy Service and stressed that the pre-application consultation meant it’s “early days” for the proposal and no plans have been submitted to Powys County Council yet.

The SWG spokesman, said: “We decided to engage with the Tregynon community before starting any formal planning procedure or pre-application.

“This is the beginning of a genuine consultation with the village; the objective of this particular event was to provide an opportunity for residents with the first of a number of opportunities to suggest or comment on what they believe might work in the context of a development in their village.

“In order to get the ball rolling we provided “a possible site layout” but made it clear we would take on board ideas that arise from this and other consultation events to inform our thinking.”

This was:

Five –  2-bedroom bungalows

Six  – 2-bedroom houses

11 – 3-bedroom houses

Two x 4-bedroom houses

“Whilst it is far too early to determine the mix of tenures, as part of the planning regulations developers are obliged to ensure a minimum 20 per-cent of a development is designated “affordable”.

“In this case, on the basis of the “possible site layout” this would equate to five units.

“There were 90 people signed in at the door which represents approximately 10 per-cent of Tregynon’s population and we received 34 completed suggestion forms.

“We were very pleased that the event attracted a wide-ranging audience and believe it gave us an invaluable insight into the views of the community which we are currently considering and will, where possible, be reflected in our plans.”

 Further consultation could take place if the company progress their plans to a formal pre-application stage.