Three electric vehicle charging points at Caersws approved

PLANS to have three electric vehicle charging points placed near the A470 road at Caersws. have been given the green light by Powys planners.

Llewellyn Rees submitted the plan for land at Maesmawr on the outskirts of Caersws, which is a key point on the main A470 road which links North and South Wales.

The land is between the trunk-road to the north and the Cambrian
Coast Railway line to the south.

Each charging  kiosk will measure 1.4 metres in height, 0.75 metres in width and 0.4 metres in depth.

Statutory consultees Natural Resources Wales (NRW) had warned that the site is in a C2 flood plain.

Cinzia Sertorio of the NRW planning team said: “Given the scale of the proposed development we consider the risk could be acceptable subject to the developer being made aware of the potential flood risks, and advised to install flood-proofing measures as part of the development.

“We advise that all electrical equipment should be elevated above existing ground level to further safeguard against possible flooding.”

Planning case officer, Rhian Griffith, said: “It is  considered that the proposed development fundamentally complies with relevant planning policy and the recommendation is therefore one of conditional consent.”

As the site is bigger than 100 square metres, before Mr Llewellyn can install the charging points he will need to received SuDS (Sustainable Drainage System) approval.

For this he will need to make an application to Powys County Council’s SuDS Approval Body (SAB).

The requirement to obtain SAB consent sits outside of the planning process but is enforceable in a similar manner to planning law.

The application had been part of a bigger scheme to create a small touring caravan site.

This would have included creating hard-standing for 10 touring caravan pitches.

The proposals would have included a building for shower and toilet facilities, but this application was withdrawn in November 2020 due to the flood risk.

Agent, Mathew Hamer of Hamco Developments, said: “There is appetite for electric vehicle (EV) charging points in the local area, therefore the applicants seeks to install three EV charging points for visiting and passing customers.”

In 2017, planning permission was given to change the use of the field, so that it could accommodate events/showground as well as allowing a car park to be built there.