Permission granted for hundreds of flats to be built on former Brains brewery site

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Planning permission has been granted for hundreds of apartments to be built on the site of a former brewery in Cardiff.

The development of two mixed-use buildings in Central Quay at the former Brains brewery site will provide more than 700 apartments and 2,000 square metres of floor space between them.

The development, which applicants Rightacres Property describe as “transformational”, will also include the planting of more than 50 trees and two public squares – one of which will include the original brewhouse chimney.

Members of Cardiff Council’s planning committee spoke in support of the development.

Cllr Gary Hunt called the development a “huge scheme,” and “in many respects a very impressive one”.

He said: “This broadens the sky line and I think it is quite exciting in that sense.”

Restaurants and cafes

One of the conditions attached to the application was that the ground floors of the buildings would include use by businesses like restaurants and cafes to further vitalise the area.

Cllr Hunt called the retention of the 19th century brewery’s 43 metre high chimney, which will be used for a new space called Chimney Square, as “excellent”.

Cllr Grace Ferguson-Thorne also expressed her delight in the retention of some of the city’s history at the site. She said: “My gut feeling was that I really didn’t like this. However, some of my concerns have absolutely been allayed.

“I was incredibly concerned that we were going to lose that historical aspect of the site.”

Both buildings are comprised of blocks of varying heights. The central block at plot one, located to the north of plot two at the Central Quay site, will be the tallest at 29 storeys.

The other public square, Central Quay Square, proposed for plot two will include a water feature and table/chair spill out area. Plot one will be made up of 402 apartments and will include 810 square meters of commercial space, while its counterpart will contain 316 apartments and 1,319 square metres of commercial space.

Cllr Ali Ahmed said he also believed the development will “transform” the city and will help Cardiff “compete with other city centres”.

Peanuts

However, he called the £600,000 financial contribution secured by the council for affordable housing as “peanuts”. The total amount of financial contributions secured by the council as part of the development is £2.2 million.

Cllr Ahmed said: “I am very concerned about this because we need to get more out of applications like this. We need to get more money so we can build more social housing.”

A report attached to the planning application notes that negotiations have been entered into with the developer. It states the plan is to “secure an appropriate financial contribution” which would see money being put towards “identified community and transport infrastructure”.

The report added:  “These discussions have reviewed the entirety of the scheme (plots 1 and 2 combined) and have secured an overall financial contribution of £2.2 million.”