Plans for new station and business park pushed back again
Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter
Plans for a new railway station and business park have been pushed back again after the Welsh Government decided to reopen a planning hearing on the proposals.
A two-day hearing on plans for the development, earmarked for land south of St Mellons Business Park, concluded on July 12 with experts and key stakeholders having had their say.
The Welsh Government said afterwards that it expected a decision to be made on the scheme towards the end of 2023.
In October 2023, and shortly after the planning inspector’s report on the project was submitted to Welsh ministers for a decision, changes were made to Welsh planning policy.
As a result of the changes, the Welsh Government has decided to reopen the planning hearing on 16 January at 10am.
Biodiversity
Key changes that were made to Planning Policy Wales in October include a greater emphasis on the protection of green spaces and biodiversity, including a strengthened approach to the protection of SSSIs.
At Tuesday’s hearing, due to take place at County Hall, the planning inspector will look at how Cardiff Parkway Development Ltd’s plans align with the updated policy.
Plans for the Cardiff Parkway Station and Hendre Lakes business park were approved by Cardiff Council in April 2022.
However, the plans were put on hold when the Welsh Government called in the application in October that same year.
Planning applications are normally called in for determination by the Welsh Government if they are deemed to be of more than local importance.
At the July hearing, Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) considered whether the development complies with the national and local development plan and the impact it would have on the Rumney and Peterstone site of special scientific interest (SSSI).
Gwent Levels
Friends of the Gwent Levels laid raised concerns about the impact that building a new business park on the site would have on biodiversity.
Dr Catherine Linstrum of the friends group said building on the SSSI could be avoided. As part of a proposed mitigation for the area, the developer, Cardiff Parkway Developments Ltd, offered an area of land in compensation for any loss to the SSSI.
However, another member of the friends group, Dr Diana Callaghan, said: “We don’t see how the compensation scheme ensures the resilience of this whole ecosystem.
“There is going to be a lot of human activity where there isn’t at the moment.”
The developers have also argued that the development will be transformative for the area.
Cardiff Council’s head of economic development, Ken Poole, said a major tech firm has expressed interest in operating at the business park and ward member for Trowbridge, Cllr Michael Michael, called the plans a “once in a lifetime chance” for Cardiff’s eastern district.
After the hearing on January 16, the planning inspector will submit another report to Welsh ministers for consideration.
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From a nationwide perspective for Cymru, one wonders why there are plans to build yet another business park in Cardiff. What about all those other places where a bit more employment would be very welcome (Look westward and north west from Cardiff). At a specific Cardif level it seems very foolish to build on an SSI when there is Pwll-Mawr trading estate already there and to the north east of that Longcross Farm and an unnamed insdustrial estate. Surely that is enough.
It’s not *just* a business park, there’s the planned railway station as well. And it won’t just benefit Cardiff: having a station in that area can provide an incredibly useful rail link to and from the rest of South Wales and England. It’s an incredibly attractive to prospective employers and investors. And speaking as a local resident of the area… We are *incredibly* poorly served by public transport here. It takes 1-2 hours to get to or from the city centre on a bus, which is a journey I can do on a motorbike in 20 minutes (takes a bit… Read more »
I suggest the Welsh Government go ahead with the new station & business park in Cardiff using money it can Ill afford whilst stating it’s “beneficial to Britain”, only build half of the project even though warned it would be over budget and how the money could be better spent elsewhere. And once the sh#@ hits the fan due to austerity, credit crunch & Brexit , then release a statement to the Welsh/UK media how they are scrapping the project, cynically say how the money “saved” can now go to small projects giving the impression of fiscal responsibility with Welsh… Read more »
The majority of the cost will be privately funded.
These delays are continuously blowing my mind. These aren’t new plans, how is it taking *so long* to make a decision on this? If they’re going to pull the plug then just do it. This area badly needs this train station. Even without the business park, it provides an incredibly attractive proposition for commuters. If I want to catch a train right now I’d have to drive to Cardiff Central or Newport station, pay to park all day, catch a train to/from my job, and then drive back home. It’s just not practical. And buses around here are a joke;… Read more »
Stop messing about and build it. The less cars on the M4 the better.
The developer’s own documents show that this would result in MORE cars on the M4