PLANS to let construction traffic travel through the heart of Dinas Powys village have met stiff opposition from councillors.

Planning permission to build 215 homes on the former St Cyres School site was granted to Barratt David Wilson Homes (BDWH) earlier this year, subject to conditions including the approval of the developers’ Construction Traffic Management Plan.

The traffic plan would involve BDWH’s vehicles travelling through the village and past the local primary school to reach the site – one of the biggest developments in Dinas Powys in more than 40 years.

At a meeting last week, the county council’s planning officers recommended the Planning Committee’s approval of the traffic plan, but were instead faced with a motion to give the Vale’s four Dinas Powys councillors the final say.

The motion, tabled by Committee Chair Cllr Ben Grey, said that officers could move ahead with the traffic plan on the condition that Cllrs Andy Robertson, Vince Driscoll, Rob Crowley and Steve Griffiths all gave their approval.

The motion was passed unanimously by the Planning Committee members in attendance.

Cllr Driscoll, who lives near the St Cyres site, could not vote at the meeting. Speaking as a member of the public, though, he implored the committee to defer the traffic plan vote and spend more time looking for alternative ways for construction vehicles to enter the site.

“We are making no promises on the outcome of negotiations, but we will fight our very best on behalf of the community”, Cllr Driscoll said at the meeting.

“We’ve already had a site meeting with the Officers and the Developer to look at alternatives. The four of us are meeting with Vale Officers and the Developer on Thursday (June 14).”

Cllr Griffiths confirmed that the four councillors are actively searching for a solution to the construction traffic problem, and would welcome alternative ideas that are practical and legally possible.

The long-proposed village by-pass would have provided a solution, Cllr Griffiths claimed, had it been built.

“The Dinas councillors would have liked to have delayed planning permission until the by-pass is confirmed, so that access to the St Cyres site could have been via the new road.” Cllr Griffiths said.

“But we couldn’t give the developer any firm date when the by-pass process will be completed, as no date has yet been given.”

Supporters of the by-pass’ construction fear the addition of construction traffic to village roads that already experience chronic congestion problems.

At last week’s planning committee meeting, a BDWH representative said that apart from more intense periods of excavation, villagers could expect just six construction vehicles to use the road each day.

BDWH also confirmed no construction traffic would travel through the village during the 30 minutes before and after children were due to arrive at and leave the primary school.

Despite these concessions, the resistance offered by the Vale’s Planning Committee suggest the traffic plan is unwelcome.

Community councillors from Plaid Cymru have also voiced criticism of the traffic plan, last week saying current opposition to the proposal had come too late.

Cllr Chris Franks said: “We are very disappointed that the construction traffic will go through the village to reach the site, going past the local primary school. We warned the Conservatives that this was going to happen.

"There was a face-saving exercise to pretend that alternative route could be found after planning had been granted. The time to identify a route to avoid travelling through residential properties was before the developers had received the go ahead."

In response to Cllr Franks’ comments, the Leader of Vale of Glamorgan Council, John Thomas, said: “I have previously met with representatives from Dinas Powys to discuss both their and our aspirations for improving the traffic situation in the village.

"I recognise the understandable concerns over the significant congestion in Dinas Powys at certain times of the day. It is for this reason that my administration has taken the matter extremely seriously and continues to work with the local community, road users and all other interested parties to progress the case for improvements.”