Botwnnog Community Council has welcomed the decision to refuse an application for new houses in the village.

Gwynedd Council turned down the application for the social houses at Cae Capel at a planning meeting on Monday, 9 September.

Botwnnog community council, who welcomed the news at their monthly meeting held later that night, said misreporting and distortion over the past week on social media and by reputable media sources of their objections to the proposed development “was disappointing and unfounded”. It was widely reported that the council wanted the houses to go to people who could speak Welsh, with a planning report apparently noting that the local council said: "It would be great if the availability of the proposed houses could be limited to Welsh speakers only".

A statement to the ‘Cambrian News’ from Michael Strain, the chairman of Botwnnog Community Council, said there were several concerns about the development, and local residents feared the new houses would put extra pressure on local services, and dilute the Welsh language, should the new houses go to non-Welsh speakers.

The statement said: “The community council represented the voices of the residents of Botwnnog who considered this plan to build 18 social houses in [a] community of only 50 homes to be an over development, placing added burdens on already over stretched GP services, schools and waste and water utilities.

“The lack of clear evidence of local need for this number of social houses within this community added to concerns that the properties would be let to people at the opposite end of the county, from non-Welsh speaking communities in Gwynedd, diminishing further the 78 per cent of the current population who speak Welsh. Maintaining and encouraging Welsh speaking communities to flourish is essential if the Government is to reach its target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

“We agree housing and employment opportunities for people within their own villages is key, but large developments such as Cae Capel is not the answer.”

The application was submitted by R Williams of Cae Capel Cyf, who argued in a report that the impact of the development would be "nil or at most very modest, and certainly not sufficient to be materially harmful to the language".

Officers advised the council to permit the scheme, which had seen a reduction from 21 houses to 18, but following a discussion on Monday, councillors voted seven to six against the application.