Residents objecting to a portable home site on their doorsteps claim their local council acted unlawfully in using special powers to develop it. Vale of Glamorgan Council used what is known as permitted development rights in January 2023 to allow the construction of 90 temporary portable homes on the site of the former Eagleswell Primary School in Llantwit Major without needing planning permission. Residents living nearby say the development has taken a toll on their quality of life and mental health, with one woman calling the site a "monstrosity" and saying the planning saga ruined the last year she spent with her husband before he died.
Vale of Glamorgan Council said the site of the former primary school, which closed in 2015, is allocated for housing in the local development plan (LDP) and that it is intended for Ukrainian refugees. However, a local action group opposed to the site argues that the number of units being built exceeds what is allocated in the LDP (72) and claim they have been pushed through to plug a gap in the council's housing stock. Read more: The desperate reality of a family-of-seven all living in a two-bedroom home Read more: The genuinely bonkers plans for Cardiff that have to be seen to be believed "I have had a couple of days in hospital with asthma over it," said Mary Morgan, whose garden backs right on to the site and is separated by a wooden fence.
"I lost my husband on February 6 of this year and really and truthfully, it ruined our last year o.