Campaigners urge Welsh Government to block ‘wrongly sited’ station scheme that could cost £200m

Martin Shipton

Campaigners have urged the Welsh Government not to back a controversial planning application they say would destroy a sensitive landscape and see a train station costing up to £200m built in the wrong place.

A company chaired by businessman Nigel Roberts wants to develop Hendre Lakes Business Park and a large new station called Cardiff Parkway at which express trains to London would stop.

Supporters of the project, including Cardiff council cabinet member for investment and development Russell Goodway, have been urging the Welsh Government to approve it without further delay.

The scheme was granted planning permission by the council in April 2022, but called in by Julie James, who was then the Welsh Government’s Climate Change Minister. “Calling in” means the decision on an application is taken not by the council, but by Welsh ministers following a report from Planning & Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), the planning inspectorate.

The project would be built on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Planning rules in Wales have recently been tightened to make it more difficult for projects to be built on SSSIs, and should only go ahead in very exceptional circumstances.

‘Exceptionality’

Lyn Eynon, who leads on planning for Cardiff Civic Society,said: “The case for ‘exceptionality’ rests firstly on the claimed potential to create jobs – up to 6,000 on the most enthusiastic estimates. Employment creation is not one of the circumstances recognised by PPW (Planning Policy Wales) as justifying development on an SSSI, and there are many reasons to query this claim.

“It rests on assuming those jobs could only be created at this site. It has been argued by its backers that the project ‘through a phase build out could deliver up to 900,000 sq ft of new employment space, which could include grade A office, R&D and tech space, as well as provision for advanced manufacturing. This sort of specialist space is unavailable at scale in the centre of Cardiff.’

“But the plans show that little of the development would consist of specialist space. Most is standard office high-rise that the Welsh Government’s Town Centre First policy prefers to see in city centres like Cardiff or Newport. These currently have surpluses. Demand for office space has fallen and is unlikely to return to the levels assumed when Hendre Lakes was first proposed.

“Only small parts of the proposal require an out/edge-of-town location. There is no need for such sites to be co-located with city-centre type offices. PPW requires that other sites should be considered before building on an SSSI, which does not seem to have been done. Disaggregating the proposal would make it easier to find locations off the SSSI, including on existing business parks with empty buildings or vacant land.”

Grand Union

Mr Eynon went on to say that the case for a mainline station on the site of the proposed business park was weak: “GWR has no interest in running services from there. Developer hopes rest with open access Grand Union which plans to launch a rival service on the south Wales to Paddington route later this year, and which, it is claimed, has committed to stop at Parkway once its station is operating.

“This is not right. Grand Union has declared an intention to run services from Cardiff Parkway but the Office of Rail and Road’ decision only grants ‘10 years of access rights, between December 2024 and December 2034, based on investment in new rolling stock only, and without rights to stop at the as-yet unbuilt Felindre and Cardiff Parkway stations’.

“If Grand Union wishes to call at Cardiff Parkway, ‘This supplemental application would have to go through the standard legislative and ORR (Office of Rail and Road) access application process, once submitted’. There is no guarantee that it will be approved if Grand Union ever follows through on this intention. As an open access operator it will receive no public subsidy and its current venture may not prove commercially successful.

“Grand Union so far has the right to run just five return services a day. Its case largely rests on speeding trains from west Wales to Paddington by not stopping at Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend, or those between Bristol Parkway and London. Calling at Cardiff Parkway would (on GWR’s estimate) add seven minutes to journey times, cutting into the promised 20-minute gain. Even supporters of the scheme admit that the original projection that Parkway could handle 800,000 rail passengers a year would need to be re-evaluated.

“As we argued in our submission on the Western Gateway Vision, acknowledging that the small and uncertain benefits of an intercity station at this site do not justify its cost opens the possibility of a local station away from the SSSI and closer to where people live.”

Funding

On the funding of the station, Mr Eynon said: “The assumption until recently has been that Cardiff Parkway Development Ltd would pay for the station. This has been part of the attraction for policy makers, with Transport for Wales not having to find a budget for it. But it’s clear that Nigel Roberts is getting cold feet about this or sees the new UK government as a chance to pass the bill. He would now like the public purse to pay what could be £50-60m for a local station or as much as £200m for an intercity one. We are being asked to subsidise an unnecessary business park for the sake of his family fortune.

“Despite this, supporters have asserted that whatever the revised cost of the station and the financing model to deliver it, this should have no bearing on the outstanding decision on planning. This is wrong.

“The accidentally leaked PEDW report that initially recommended approval, prior to the strengthening of PPW that necessitated a second hearing, stated: “This is a phased development. The first phase being the station and associated infrastructure only. The mitigation and compensatory measures required to offset the loss of the part of the SSSI and Marshfield SINC (Site of Importance in Nature Conservation) for that phase would be provided within the site.

“The Section 106 agreement accompanying the application [under which the developer pays for community benefits] prohibits all other development until off-site compensation is provided and secured. The Minister can also take comfort that no development beyond the provision of the station can take place unless Natural Resources Wales is satisfied that measures are in place to ensure adequate mitigation, compensation and enhancements to offset the impact of the proposed development on the SSSI have been secured.

“If any development is to take place at this site, this phasing must be confirmed with the station coming first. Additionally, if the application is approved, in whole or part, there should be a condition that no other part of the development should be completed until the station is open. Otherwise there is a risk that the developer could construct what would be a car-oriented business park while arguments over station financing continue, perhaps indefinitely.

“It would of course be best to reject this proposal, protect the SSSI as PPW requires, avoid undermining Cardiff and Newport business centres, find a location for the station that puts residents’ needs first, and explore alternative sites for specialist space. A caretaker Welsh Government cabinet should not be making important and controversial decisions.”