Green light for 82-home estate on former petrol station site

Lewis Smith, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to develop a new housing estate on the site of a former petrol station have been given the go-ahead by the county borough council.

The proposals brought forward by Lewis Homes could now see the creation of the 82 residential  homes on land south of Pont-Rhyd-Y-Cyff off Bridgend Road, Llangynwyd.

The “partially brownfield site” which previously held a petrol station is around 2.3 hectares in size and is located across the road from Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd Secondary School.

It is one of three plots of land in the area which has been set aside for housing as part of the borough’s local development plan.

The application said, once completed, the development would be made up of a mix of 73 terrace/townhouses, semi-detached, and detached houses, as well as nine apartments in a three-storey block.

This will come alongside new internal open space, landscaping, new access roads and associated infrastructure.

While there were no objections from statutory consultees, nine letters of objection were submitted to Bridgend County Borough Council by members of the public.

These focused on concerns over the three-storey apartment block which some thought could be an eyesore, as well as fears of increased traffic and congestion on local roads as a result of the development.

Others felt noise pollution could “significantly impact” the quality of life for residents in the vicinity with additional concerns over the destruction of habitats and a loss of trees.

Councillor Martin Hughes said during a site visit he experienced difficulty with the busy roads, while councillor Mark John questioned how the extra housing would impact the A4063 which had previously been deemed as being at capacity.

Officers said they recommended the proposal which they felt represented an appropriate form of development that would have no unacceptable impacts on visual or residential amenity and ecology.

When it came to congestion and highway safety, they said it had been considered as part of the LDP process with an inspector determining that the increase in traffic would be acceptable.

They also noted that there were overall plans for an active travel scheme  between the three proposed sites that would include a signalised crossing point and zigzag lines to reduce the flow of traffic.

The full walking and cycling route off the A4063 would need to be delivered by developers once a combined 100 homes are built across the three development sites.

The application for the new housing was later approved unanimously by the local authority’s planning committee in May of 2026, with plans for the second site expected to come before council bosses in the near future.