Huge distribution depot planned for site near M4

Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

A major new distribution depot with 899 spaces for vans has been proposed between the M4 and an ancient woodland in Swansea.

It would involve demolishing an empty industrial building at Penllergaer Business Park, Penllergaer, and building a large warehouse with office space on 11 hectares of land.

The proposed development would take up most of the business park and be adjacent to Penllergare Valley Woods – a designated historic park and garden containing an ancient woodland.

180 full-time jobs

Applicant and commercial property developer Stoford Properties Ltd has estimated that 180 full-time equivalent jobs would be created while a planning statement submitted on its behalf said it would be a “high quality”, energy efficient scheme with rooftop solar panels.

“The development will deliver significant social and economic benefits – generating new jobs during construction and operation, as well as supply chain opportunities and wider economic growth,” said the statement.

There would be 899 spaces for vans including 72 loading bays, plus 221 parking spaces for staff and 64 motorbike and cycle spaces.

Penllergaer councillor Tony Fitzgerald has raised concerns about the impact on additional traffic on nearby junction 47 of the M4 and said he believed the application should be refused.

The business park is off the A48, which runs parallel to the M4 and joins the motorway a few hundred metres to the west at junction 47 and a mile to the east at junction 46.

Stoford Properties’s transport advisers estimate that 454 two-way vehicle movements could be generated at peak morning and afternoon periods at junction 47 and 46.

Mitigation works

The planning statement said “focused mitigation works” were proposed at junction 47 – namely an additional lane on the south side of the junction and a “two-lane flared exit to the A48 south” – resulting in a “betterment” for the road network with “significant decreases in queueing, delay and journey times”.

It added that a new access point from the business park’s internal road would be created and that staff car-sharing would be encouraged.

Cllr Fitzgerald claimed junction 47 was already operating over its design capacity and said he couldn’t accept that adding half of the estimated 454 extra vehicle movements – with the other half at junction 46 – could lead to a “betterment” for the road network notwithstanding the mitigation measures proposed.

Referring to moves in recent years to make junction 47 operate more smoothly, he said: “Removing two sets of traffic lights, installing a new one at the top of the A483 and the re-timing of the traffic light phasing were all undertaken in an attempt to reduce congestion but there are still queues of traffic at peak times where the A48 joins junction 47.”

He also felt the planned distribution depot was more of an industrial than business operation and wasn’t appropriate for a business park. “For the above reasons this application should be refused,” he said.

Planning documents

Planning documents on behalf of the applicant said Penllergaer Business Park had an existing industrial building, that no significant air quality impacts were expected, and that the planned depot would not materially harm adjacent Penllergare Valley Woods. However, they said a “moderate degree of harm” was expected in terms of the character of the woodland setting. An accompanying landscaping strategy seeks to reduce this moderate harm to “minor” harm within 15 years.

There is already a large depot run by delivery company DPD around a mile north-west of the site at Parc Felindre, north of the M4.

Swansea Council officers are assessing Stoford Properties’ application having advised the company at a pre-application stage.

The name of the proposed occupier of the site isn’t included in the planning statement, although it said “blue flashing” would feature on the warehouse reflecting the occupier’s branding.

Stoford Properties declined to comment when contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service because the application was live.