180 new homes planned for site earmarked as new town centre

Anthony Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

Up to 180 new homes could be built on land which had previously been set aside for a new town centre.

Talbot Green Developments Ltd has submitted outline plans for a new residential development at land to the south of the A473 in Talbot Green.

The site forms part of an allocation in the local development plan for Mwyndy/Talbot Green for a new town centre and residential development.

The wider allocation is made up of land for up to 500 dwellings, employment, retail, leisure, school, community facilities, and open space.

Land including the application site had previously received planning permission in December 2014 for a mixed-use development of a new town centre.

A second full planning application was granted at the development site in November 2013 for phase one of the development made up of the Sainsbury’s supermarket, petrol station, and associated highways and flood infrastructure, which has since been built.

A planning statement submitted on behalf of the application said the significant infrastructure works necessary to serve the phase one development and the wider phase two town centre and residential development had already been delivered.

A pre-application inquiry was submitted to RCT Council in May 2024 for proposed retail and residential development of the wider town centre site, which included the land in this application.

The pre-application response considered the proposal for mixed residential and commercial use at this sustainable location to be acceptable in principle.

But the planning statement added the mix of development proposed was assessed noting the passage of time since the LDP was adopted, the delivery of the Sainsbury’s site, market conditions, and other factors meaning: “It is therefore accepted that what may have been envisaged during the preparation of the LDP is no longer possible and some deviation from the original ideologies will have to be accepted if development of as much of the allocation as possible is to be brought forward.”

Lack of residential sites

It also said the current lack of available, deliverable and viable large-scale residential sites in RCT was considered to justify the delivery of housing at this location rather than retail.

The planning statement said that “the local context has changed since the adoption of the LDP, with the need for retailing reducing and the need for housing increasing”.

It added: “As a result such a large retail centre is no longer required and would be less viable to deliver.

“Instead it is recognised that the site is a desirable location for people to live, particularly for those working in Cardiff, Newport, and Swansea, hence this application for housing.

“There is an existing Sainsbury’s store and the remaining land in the allocation is intended to come forward separately for retail use, meaning the wider site still provides an appropriate balance of retail, commercial, and residential development to meet the current demand and broad objectives of the allocation.”

Permission for the retail element of the proposal is due to be sought through a separate application so this proposal relates to part of the pre-application site which is for residential development only.

The scale of development is for up to 180 dwellings which will include a mix of houses and apartments.

The application also includes the clearance of existing hard standing on site, public open space including children’s play space, new access, pedestrian and cycle routes, green and blue infrastructure including sustainable drainage systems attenuation, landscape planting, and opportunities for net benefit for biodiversity and all associated engineering works.

Parcel of land

The application site includes a parcel of land extending to around 4.9 hectares located south of the A473 and east of the A4222 Cowbridge Road in Talbot Green.

The site is previously-developed land having formerly been occupied by Staedtler factory to the north and Purolite chemical works to the south.

The former buildings have been demolished and the site is now cleared land.

The planning statement said it is understood approximately 460 homes are being built elsewhere in the wider allocation at Cefn yr Hendy.