EFFORTS to save a Llandudno green space from development have taken a dramatic twist with an alternative site now also possibly earmarked for housing.
Campaigners fighting to save Bodafon Fields put forward a site on Queens Road as a replacement but now both sites have been included in a draft version of Conwy Council’s Local Development Plan (LDP), leaving residents from the two areas furious.
Residents on Queens Road were outraged the agricultural land site, near to the Queens Road roundabout, was being considered.
Keith Simpson, who lives on Queens Road, said no warning had been given about the late inclusion of the site.
“Nobody wants it here,” he said.
“All the traffic that will be going through Queens Road will be a big problem.”
Another resident, Brian Marsden, added: “It would be just as damaging to a development here.”
Objections have also been raised by residents from the nearby Maes Berllan retirement properties and Llandudno councillor Gareth Jones, who said he was concerned that the Queens Road site had been included “without any consultation whatsoever”.
Cllr Christine Jones, who initially recommended replacing Bodafon Fields with the Queens Road site, defended her decision, saying on the advice of council planning officers, she believed it was the lesser of two evils.
“I’m strongly opposed to both these sites in principle,” she said.
“I do not think the area can sustain anymore houses.”
Ruby Williams of the Bodafon Fields Preservation Association said the LDP plans were bad news for Llandudno.
“We have always thought that if this goes ahead it will open the way for further development,” she said.
“We see it as the beginning of the end for the majority of Bodafon Fields.”
The draft LDP is due to go before Conwy’s Full Council on February 23.
A Conwy council spokesman said: “Once members of the council have agreed the proposed changes to the plan it will be submitted to the Welsh Government.
“At the same time there will be a six week consultation giving the public a further opportunity to comment.”