Hostel blocked after £316,000 spend revealed

RETROSPECTIVE PLANNING APPLICATION REFUSED

- By RICHARD EVANS

A RETROSPECTIVE planning application for a homeless hostel was thrown out by councillors after it was revealed a North Wales council had been funding the people already living there to the tune of £316,000.

Denbighshire County Council (DCC) councillors voted to refuse planning permission for the homeless hostel at 28 Nant Hall Road, Prestatyn, against planning officers’ advice to grant.

A petition of 130 names against the plans was presented at the council chamber, where residents complained of drug dealers living at the property, syringes in gardens, and antisocial behaviour, at a planning meeting at Ruthin County Hall HQ this week.

The petition objected on the grounds of public safety, claiming police confirmed 19 incidents linked to the property, including cases of “drug dealing, assaults, safeguarding issues involving children, domestic violence, and harassment”.

The petition said the hostel was “irresponsibly” placed next to a school and “struggling businesses”.

Council officers, though, claimed many of these reports had been linked to victims of crime and not just the perpetrators.

But planning committee members called it “astonishing” when it was revealed that the council had already been funding placements at the hostel, managed by Together Homes NW Ltd, since May/June 2024.

Cllr Andrea Tomlin said it “beggared belief” that the council had paid £316,000 to the 10-bed hostel at a rate of £78 per night - figures she said were obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request.

“DCC has ignored its very own planning policy and public protection procedures,” she said.

She went on to say there were 110 homeless households in Denbighshire but just 11 in Prestatyn itself.