Testun llawn:
The initial consultation, which focused on higher level strategy, was singularly limited. The large majority of residents in NW Barry were not even aware of any developments. Subsequently, we understand that some who knew of the consultation did register objections. These objections seemed to have been ignored and a "Preferred Strategy" was endorsed by full Counsel. As far far as we can ascertain, ex post facto, there were no site specific technical assessments available. Initial consultation occurred before key technical evidence was available on the sites. In relation to NW Barry, residents were told (in reply to questions) in June/July 2025 to "wait" for details (in a public meeting in Millwood Bowls club). This was the first occasion that we had heard of developments. Vale Planning and Council appear to have made final decisions about sites after this, however the public were not consulted at all. Barry is clearly expected to take substantial growth, but there is no record of targeted community engagement specific to Barry. Heavy reliance was placed on written representations. There was no evidence of community or stakeholder workshops and no co-design sessions. When we attended the in-person consultation event in Barry Memorial Hall in February 2026, there was no one to record our comments, no answers were given any queries and we were constantly told to go and look at the online consultation portal to get information and submit our concerns. The in-person event was simply a "signposting portal" to the online RLDP. There was no meaningful engagement. The public were simply asked to react to a pre-determined sites. Planning's subsequent behaviour has largely been negative and reactive to any suggested changes.
