PLANS to demolish a former hospital in Carmarthenshire and build 28 houses have been turned down.
Council planning officers said the application for the former Amman Valley Maternity Hospital, Glanaman, would have an adverse impact upon certain priority species, including dormice, and that it failed to incorporate existing landscape features of importance.
Officers also said the proposed access for properties fronting Tircycoed Road would be substandard, and that traffic calming measures were lacking.
They added that the proposal had not considered the the impact of the development or its construction on air quality.
The application by Thomas Brothers Ltd, of Betws, included the demolition of two houses on Tircycoed Road to create access to and from the development site at the rear.
In a design and access report on behalf of the applicants, Asbri Planning said this access was the only viable way to redevelop the vacant site and provide an opportunity to ease congestion on Tirycoed Road.
It also said the access would be safe, with good visibility in both directions.
Asbri Planning said a section of the access went through land which was outside the town’s defined settlement limits but contended that the scheme was a “logical extension” of the settlement.
The 28 properties proposed comprised bungalows, detached and semi-detached houses.
The principle of development, said Asbri Planning, was to build affordable housing on the site.
Its report added: “Suitable separation distances are respected within the proposed development to ensure no harmful overlooking, overbearing or overshadowing impact would be experienced by future or existing occupiers.”
Separate dormouse and bat surveys were submitted.
Two previous applications to develop the land had been turned down, and the latest application faced many objections, including from Cwmamman Community Council.
A petition calling for the scheme to be rejected was signed by scores of residents.
The petition said the development would result in many more vehicles coming out onto Tirycoed Road.
“The last thing we want as Tirycoed residents is to have more cars coming on to our dangerously congested road,” it said.
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