Controverial plans to build 56 affordable homes on "irreplaceable" common land in Swansea have been narrowly approved. The council's planning committee voted in favour of the Clyne Common application by six votes to four, but the applicants will still need consent to de-register the land and replace it with a site elsewhere.
The two-hectare plot, north of Chestnut Avenue and west of Mulberry Avenue, West Cross, is a designated site of important nature conservation as well as common land - and dozens of objectors expressed their concerns to the planning department. Several of them staged a protest when committee members visited the site on March 6 and then attended the committee meeting the following day, including Michael Crafer.
Addressing councillors, Mr Crafer said voting for the application would be "a doomsday venture into nature and climate catastrophe on the promise of 100% affordable housing". The land in question, he said, contained peat and vegetation which had formed since the last Ice Age and was "a treasure trove of wildlife". You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
