Villagers at war with ex-restaurateur as he submits plans to install 47 steel shipping containers at an old school in plans to build self-storage facility

By JON BRADY, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 13:49, 25 May 2026 | Updated: 13:50, 25 May 2026 Villagers in a picturesque hamlet in Wales fear the local landscape will be ruined if an ex-restaurateur wins permission to put 47 shipping containers at an old school. Fu Lee has taken ownership of Ysgol Gymuned Dwyran (Dwyran Community School) in Dwyran, Anglesey, after it closed down during a merger with three other schools. He intends to turn it into a self-storage facility - after ditching plans to build holiday lets because the site sits on a flood plain. But locals say the finished result would resemble an 'industrial estate' in a village of less than 700 people and have called on Anglesey Council to refuse it. Mr Lee, however, says he is 'just a normal working class lad trying to make a few quid on the side'. Plans show Mr Lee wants to demolish the 1980s extensions, create 11 parking spaces, and line the shipping containers behind the school, where they will be fenced in for security. Environmental concessions include bird and bat boxes as well as new trees and hedgerows, which will be planted in a playing field to the north of the site. Mr Lee claims the planting will obscure the containers from view - but must still face down his detractors, who feel the project ill-fits the tiny village. Ysgol Gymuned Dwyran (Dwyran Community School) in Dwyran - which could soon be home to 47 shipping containers  Owner Fu Lee wants to install dozens of containers at the rear of the school to create a self-service storage park that has been unfavourably compared to an industrial estate The businessman, who gave up his restaurant business in nearby Caernarfon in 2017, told the Daily Post: 'I would love to open a cafe or something similar but as it's in a flood plain there are very few potential uses for the site. 'When considering options, my planning consultant suggested self-storage, for which there is growing demand. Originally the plan was to keep the entire building with just seven containers – but this simply wasn't cost-effective as a business.' He intends to use the original, 'lovely' school building for letting or storage, preventing it from falling into disrepair. But locals fear the town will be spoiled by the sight of the shipping containers, of which all but 12 are 5.9m long, 2.3m wide and 2.5m tall. A handful are roughly half the length at 2.9m long. And there are concerns that they could float away if the area experiences heavy rainfall. Mr Lee claims the site itself has never flooded. Nevertheless, he has committed to bolting the containers to a subterranean base of concrete and fastening them together to ensure they will not float away should the worst-case scenario unfold. But locals in Dwyran remain concerned about why a village of roughly 660 people needs self-storage in the first place, with one branding it a 'sodding carbuncle'.  Some have called for Mr Lee to work with the community on the project, considering a playground on the playing field or turning the school itself into a community hall. Others say he should sell up altogether. One local branded the lock-up an 'alien concept' in a post on a community Facebook group. Another wrote that 47 containers would be 'an eyesore... not fitting in with the village.' Mr Lee, ever the businessman, has said he is open to a sale: 'If someone wants to buy the site, allowing me to make a small profit, then just show me the money.' Locals had until Friday to raise any objections to the plans. A decision will be made by an Anglesey Council planning officer at a later date. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.