Court of Appeal rules half-century old planning permission for 400 homes in Snowdonia is no longer valid

The Court of Appeal has ruled that planning permission granted more than 50 years ago for a significant development of over 400 homes in Snowdonia is no longer valid.

Approval was originally given in 1967 by the then Meirioneth County Council for proposals to build 401 open market houses in Aberdyfi.

Since the application was approved over half a century ago, only 27 houses have been constructed following various subsequent permissions granted on the site.

Snowdonia National Park Authority said the subsequent developments, which have occurred over a period of many years, have deviated from the original 1967 consent to such an extent that it deemed the original permission to be invalid.

The developer took legal action against the authority regarding this, and the issue was tried in the courts in September 2019.

The decision fell in favour of the national park authority in October 2019 and the original planning permission was subsequently quashed.

This decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal last week.

Jonathan Cawley, director of planning and land management for the Snowdonia National Park Authority said: “Snowdonia National Park Authority welcomes this decision by the Court of Appeal which upholds the original court decision.

“There was considerable uncertainty regarding the site and how it would evolve.

“None of the 27 houses built on the site were in accordance with the original masterplan, which for us raised serious questions as to what would be developed on the site in the future.

“This addresses the significant confusion and uncertainty surrounding this historic scheme.

“Any future development in the area will now have to comply with the Local Development Plan.”

Top image “Aberdovey/Aberdyfi” by Bods is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0