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| Tourism is crucial to Anglesey |
Six hundred jobs are said to be at stake at a country park development that has been refused permission by local planners. The developer, Land & Lakes, wanted to create a "quality destination" leisure resort with about 800 lodges but has found that opposition over size and impact has been quite strenuous.
The development was planned to be based at three sites at Penrhos, Cae Glas and Kingsland, but the proposals were refused by five votes to two with one abstention.
Battle lines are being formed, but the plans will now come back to a further meeting of the authority because the refusal was against officers' advice. The developers will also consider an appeal.
It was planned that Penrhos would be the base for the leisure resort with about 500 lodges and cottages and a water park along with a sports hall, spas, saunas, restaurants, walking and cycling routes.
Cae Glas would have been used in the short term to house workers for building the Wylfa B nuclear power station and would also have been home to a hotel, football and cricket pitches. In due course it would have been turned into an extra 315 lodges with a nature reserve being created.
Finally, the Kingsland site would initially have had 360 houses which would be used for construction workers building on the Cae Glas site before being turned into residential housing.
The developers appear to have been in close discussions with land owners Aluminium Metals, Anglesey council and the Welsh government on the matter.
Council leader Ieuan Williams and spokesman for economic development Aled Morris Jones said: "This has been an emotive application which has been met with much local objection. The application, however, also offered significant opportunities for job creation and economic growth which was also widely recognised.
"As planning committee members chose to vote against officer recommendation, there will now be a one month 'cooling off' period before the application returns to the committee to be ratified."
Speaking before the meeting, Richard Sidi, chief executive of Land and Lakes, said: "Our objective is to create a quality destination leisure resort of national significance to provide a sustainable economic legacy for the area.
"This is a unique site in a unique location and we are hugely excited about developing our plans for this 'flagship' leisure resort which will include extensive local amenities."
The former smelting works at the Anglesey Aluminium Metals (AAM) site was closed in 2009 and put up for sale the following year, with offers invited in the region of £10m.
First Minister Carwyn Jones had spoken on the matter in the early stages, describing the plans as"ambitious" when they were announced 12 months later adding that the plans could "enhance the tourism offer of both Anglesey and north west Wales". Anglesey council also welcomed the proposals for the site.
But opponents to the scheme had always said that they had "significant" concerns over its size. Natural Resources Wales said it did not object to the proposal in principle but was concerned about the impact on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
It was also suggested that the proposed development had been in conflict with the adopted development plan which meant the Welsh government could have called in the application for determination had it been approved by Anglesey council.
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