RESIDENTS standing up against a potential housing development say it would be a 'disaster'.

Hope county councillor David Healey said some residents have put up several signs along Wrexham Road in Abermorddu to show their opposition towards the development of a site known as Bluebell Field, which is adjacent to the road.

Cllr Healey said: "They are deeply concerned that this particular field is in the county's draft Local Development Plan (LDP) and has been assigned for housing development.

"This has been a longstanding issue and there have been many battles over this in the past."

He explained several areas of concern include the impact on biodiversity and traffic.

Residents of Wrexham Road told the Leader what impact they felt could be caused by a housing development on the field.

Peter Guest, 73, said: "It would be a disaster. Everyone uses that field. "The school is full, we have no facilities or shops here and that is the only bit of green land we have left."

Mr Guest's wife Elizabeth, 72, added: "It's the effect on wildlife as well. We've had all kinds of animals on there.

"Then there's the bluebells and the trees - it will all be taken away."

Janet Tait, 51, said she was not against the idea of new houses but she felt the site was inappropriate.

"It's all marshy," she explained. "It always has been since I was young and I have lived here all my life.

"There's plenty of places you can build houses, but not here - it would be bedlam."

Some spoke of their concerns over the traffic that would be generated by such a scheme, including 66-year-old Arnie Brown.

He said: "I'm objecting, like most people are.

"We're going to do a survey to monitor the traffic. "That field has been used as an open space for donkeys years. If they take it away, it's gone forever."

Ann Krassner, 79, said: "That's the only field we can look out on and walk on - they talk about the welfare of the elderly? It's not on."

Lisa Prydderch, 48, said she has serious concerns for the safety of pupils at the nearby Abermorddu County Primary School due to the 40mph limit on Wrexham Road, as well as the potential for more motorists to exceed that limit.

"We've got kids walking down here," she said. "It's an accident waiting to happen. They have to look at the bigger picture."

Cllr Healey said he and his wife Cllr Gladys Healey have been "strongly opposed" to development on the field - to the extent that they can now no longer officially have their say over Flintshire's LDP, as the Leader reported recently.

He said: "As far as the LDP is concerned, we have had to declare a prejudicial interest, so we can't attend meetings where the issue will be discussed.

"We have spent time with legal officers and they have said we have been so active in the community that apparently we're in this position.

"The ACCH (Abermorddu, Caergwrle, Cefn y Bedd and Hope) Action Group has brought out a leaflet which is pointing residents in the way that they can submit objections and identifies candidate sites they find to be preferable.

"The group is taking part in a drop in session where residents are able to come along and get advice - it will take place all day at the community centre in Heulwen Close, Hope, on Saturday, November 2.

"They are making themselves available to give advice to residents who wish to object.

"I'd definitely encourage residents to take part in the consultation, particularly as the two county councillors for the area are not able to speak. "It's so important that the community gets involved."

Flintshire Council was approached by the Leader for comment.