Council spent £1 million on scrapped velodrome project

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Cardiff Council spent more than £1m on a major velodrome project which was eventually scrapped.

The city council announced in January that it would no longer be going ahead with plans for a new velodrome at the International Sports Village (ISV) in Grangetown and a new driving range could be built on the proposed site instead.

Plans for the velodrome were revealed in 2021 and a freedom of information (FOI) request made by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found a total of £1,038,420 was spent on things like business case consultancy, pre-planning work, design works and hiring a contractor.

Cardiff Council said the true cost to the local authority was £625,000 because a large portion of the £1m includes other costs which “remain relevant and helpful to the council in the future”.

Survey

The council said items like site surveys, contamination and remediation works at the ISV can still be utilised and add value to the site.

Here is a full breakdown of how much money the council spent on plans for a new velodrome between March 2021 and January 2025:

⦁ Pre-planning works – £457,396
⦁ Site investigation – £124,143
⦁ Contractor – £30,633
⦁ Business case consultancy – £29,535
⦁ Planning fees – £1,670
⦁ RIBA stage four design works (this is the technical design phase, which includes preparing detailed engineering and architectural designs for a project) – £395,043

Velodrome

The new velodrome planned for Cardiff Bay was intended to be a replacement for Maindy Velodrome in Cathays, which initially look set for demolition as part of plans to expand Cathays High School.

At the same time that Cardiff Council made the announcement on the new velodrome in January, it said it had been offered the opportunity to enter into negotiations for land which could be used as an alternative to the Maindy site.

Acquiring the land, where the Companies House offices were on Crown Way, would “eliminate the need to relocate Maindy cycle track”, according to the council.

The former Toys R Us site at the ISV, which was earmarked for the velodrome, is now part of plans for a new Topgolf driving range.

Cardiff Council cabinet members approved plans in January for the council to enter into an option agreement with Topgolf for the site. No planning application has been made yet.

The council published a report, also in January, which stated a capital cost of £625,000 was incurred during the preparation and planning for the new velodrome project and this would be funded from earmarked reserves.

Public report

A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “The actual cost to the council for the Velodrome project stands at £625,000. This number was revealed in a public report to Cardiff Council’s cabinet in January.

“The £1m figure you refer to includes other costs incurred as part of the project but which remain relevant and helpful to the council in future.

“This includes items such as site surveys, contamination, and remediation works at the ISV site, all of which can still be utilised and add value to the site.

“The velodrome plans were paused because the costs increased significantly from an initial estimated £6m to over £9m due to inflation, interest rates, and additional specification requirements, including a closed-loop cycle circuit.

“This rise in costs meant the business plan was no longer viable. It’s worth noting, however, that the council remains committed to exploring the delivery of a closed loop circuit and therefore the design plans for the circuit, which were part of the £625,000 velodrome costs, could still be used should the council find a suitable site.

“The council is committed to developing the International Sports Village as a top destination for sport and leisure. We are exploring new opportunities for the site, including a proposal from Top Golf Ltd to bring their first attraction to Wales.”

Maindy Velodrome

Campaigners have been fighting against council plans to develop on the site of Maindy Velodrome for years.

They said the nearby Companies House land should be looked at as an alternative for the expansion of Cathays High School.

Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for education, Cllr Sarah Merry, said at a meeting on January 23, that initially there was no alternative to the Maindy site.

She said: “Our original proposal had been to build a new school on part of the Maindy site and move the cycle track to create space for pitches etc.

“There are limited options for acquiring the land close to the school and at that time alternative sites were not available.

“Despite making enquiries about acquiring Companies House [and] the Maindy Barracks site at that time, we were told that there were no plans to relocate either.

“Companies House in particular would have always been our preferred site for the school.

“It is next to the current school site… it is significantly larger and historically that site was the playing fields for Cathays High.”

As part of our FOI request, we asked the council at what point it first enquired about the availability of land occupied by Companies House on Crown Way for the expansion of Cathays High.

The response we received was: “Informal enquiries date back to 2017 with a subsequent focused meeting held on September 6, 2022.”

Cathays High

Our request also found the council spent thousands of pounds on plans which would have facilitated the expansion of Cathays High as originally planned.

As Maindy Park is held in trust, with the council as its sole trustee, the local authority proposed a land swap which would have seen land at Maindy Park exchanged for land at Caedelyn Park in Rhiwbina.

Cardiff Council made an application to the Charity Commission in 2023 to carry out the land swap.

However, the plan has since been shelved pending the conclusion of discussions over the potential acquisition of Companies House land.

Council data shows £16,737.12 was spent on legal fees in relation to the process of proposing and applying for a land swap between May 1, 2022 and January 17, 2025.

Data from the FOI response also shows a total of £4,510 plus VAT was spent on consultancy.

In a letter sent to Senedd Members recently, the Charity Commission said it had closed its case on the proposed land swap.

However, the prospect of Maindy Park being used for the secondary school expansion in the future isn’t completely off the table.

When Cardiff Council made its announcement on the proposed new velodrome and Companies House land in January, it said that should negotiations with the Government Property Agency prove unsuccessful, developing the new school on the Maindy Park site would remain a viable strategy.