Powys council chiefs will advise councillors to reject a proposal to turn a former school field near Brecon into a village green.

In doing so, councillors will remove a final barrier to a Powys County Council (PCC) housing development being built at the former Bronllys Primary School.

At a meeting of the council’s Planning Committee on Thursday, March 12, councillors will receive a report on an application by the Bronllys Green Group to have part of the former school site registered as a village green.

The school, which has now been demolished, was closed in 2017, after which the council decided to allocate the site for housing.

The village green application was lodged by the group with the council back in April 2020.

In September 2021, plans from the council’s housing service to build a mix of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom homes, along with two adapted bungalows on the site, were approved by councillors on the Planning Committee.

In April 2022, the council’s housing service formally opposed the village green application – arguing that if it were approved, it would “impact” the number of houses that could be built there.

At a Planning Committee meeting in August 2022, councillors agreed with an officer recommendation that an independent planning inspector be brought in to examine the village green application and provide a recommendation for the council, which would then be considered by the committee for a decision.

Last November, a two-day hearing was held in Bronllys by PEDW (Planning and Environment Decisions Wales), which received arguments for and against the proposal.

Planning inspector Siân Worden of PEDW has now provided a report and recommendation on the proposal.

Ms Worden said that supporters of the application focused their arguments on the need for a green space for residents’ wellbeing and claimed that the housing development was not sustainable due to a lack of facilities in the area.

The council argued that the application was legally “incompatible,” as they owned the land, which had been defined for “education purposes” and was now held for a “housing purpose.”

Granting the site village green status would reduce the planned development from 17 to eight houses.

In her judgement, Ms Worden said: “Although the playing field has an established recreational use, it has been legitimately appropriated for housing use.

“PCC is a public authority that held, and now holds, the land for the defined statutory purposes of education and housing.

“As such, the issue of statutory incompatibility applies and has been in place for many years.

“The purpose of housing land is the provision of dwellings.”

Ms Worden continued: “The submitted evidence contains data on the population, housing developments, and amount of open space in Bronllys and the surrounding area.

“The need for open and recreational space is not a criterion for the registration of a village green.

“I am not able to give it any weight in making my recommendation.

“The Neuadd Terrace play area is not consistent with the criteria set out in the Act by reason of its use being by permission rather than as of right.”

She therefore recommends that the application be refused and not registered as a village green.

Bronllys, along with Talgarth Primary School, closed its doors on August 31, 2017, as part of a school reorganisation programme in Powys.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

A new 150-place community primary school, Ysgol Y Mynydd Du, was opened in Talgarth to take pupils from both schools.