Plans by a Rhyl residents association to register a piece of land as a village green have been refused by members of Denbighshire County Council but the campaign to keep the area as open space is far from over.
The applications for the site at The Park off Ffordd Elan were submitted to Denbighshire County Council in its capacity as commons Registration Authority and were made on behalf of the Park View Residents Association.
The application site is owned in part by the Council and partly by T Anwyl and Son Limited and given that the Council was the Registration Authority, landowner and objector, it was decided to appoint a suitably qualified independent inspector to conduct a non-statutory public inquiry, in the interest of fairness. The inspector recommended refusal of both applications (relating to the land owned by Denbighshire and the two parcels of adjacent land owned by Anwyls).
During a lengthy debate among members at the meeting of the Full Council yesterday (Tuesday), members unanimously went with the recommendation before them – to refuse the application – but added a further two recommendations.
They are that officers meet with the residents association within 28 days to discuss an appropriate mechanism to protect the open space in the ownership of Denbighshire and that the authority investigates statutory powers available to the Council with respect to the land currently owned by Anwyls
Councillor Hugh Evans, Denbighshire’s Leader, said: “It was good and thorough debate and although the final recommendation by the independent planning inspector left us little option but to go with recommendations, members widely recognised the need for open space in that part of Rhyl, which is why they were unanimous in voting for the two amendments.
“This now means that we can get back round the negotiating table and hopefully reach a satisfactory conclusion to this issue.”
