Residents in growing village continue to wait for railway station

Ted Peskett Local Democracy Reporter

Residents in an ever-growing Vale village plagued by poor trnasport connections and under pressure services are still waiting for a railway station decades after having one taken away.

The ward of St Athan saw a population rise of 22% between 2011 and 2021 according to Census data.

One local councillor, Cllr Stephen Haines, thinks the population of the village must have doubled over the past decade as houses continue to be developed there.

Plans

St Athan itself featured in Vale of Glamorgan Council’s plans for future housing – something called the local development plan (LDP) – and hundreds of homes have been built as part of this so far.

In its updated plans for future homes, the replacement local development plan (RLDP), the council is again looking at land in St Athan for more homes.

However, despite talk of a new railway station as part of plans for more housing in St Athan and a Government pledge earlier this year to help create a business case, there are doubts as to whether anything will come forward.

The last time passengers were picked up and dropped off at a station in St Athan was 60 years ago.

People living there now seemed eager to see the station return.

Steve Overton, 71, said: “I’ll bet you we have signed six petitions in the last 10 years and when they sold the station off, believe it or not it went for [a] paltry sum. You could have parked 200 cars there. It was huge.

“We want a station, where is it? When is it coming? It went nowhere.”

In February, 2024, the UK Government pledged to work alongside TfW and Vale of Glamorgan Council and part-fund the development of a business case for a new station.

However, shortly after the General Election in July, the secretary of state for transport announced that the Government would conduct a review of its capital spending.

St Athan resident, Barbara Reid, said she would use the railway station if it was brought back to the village.

Barbara, 65, added: “I did hear [about the station], but there were so many times people said it would happen or it was in planning… nothing happened.”

Reliability

There are bus services operating in St Athan, but residents said they were either not reliable enough or it took a long time to get to destinations like Cardiff and Barry.

Barbara added: “There is a bus.. supposedly, every hour if it turns up. Sometimes, it doesn’t even turn up or it is late and if you want to get a train, you have to catch the bus to Llantwit.

“So, if the bus isn’t on time, you miss the train. It is a bit hit and miss.”
When asked where she would go on the train if a station opened in St Athan, Barbara added: “I would go into town to Cardiff or Barry.

“The buses take a long time if they turn up. To Cardiff it takes an hour and a half sometimes because it goes through all of the villages, but on a train it would be a lot quicker.

“I would use it, definitely, and I know a lot of people that definitely would use it as well.”

The leader of Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllr Lis Burnett, called the UK Government’s announcement offering its support earlier this year significant.

She went on to say that the council had aspirations through its RLDP to provide “truly sustainable development with excellent infrastructure and transport connections to support new growth”.

The Vale of Glamorgan line re-opened in 2005, but St Athan railway station has remained closed since 1964.

Currently, the closest stations for people in the village are Llantwit Major and Rhoose Cardiff International Airport – both more than 4km either side of St Athan.

David Edwards, 65, said he had lived in St Athan all his life and that he would “definitely” use the train if it stopped in the village.

“Once a month I go into Barry,” he said.

“It would be quicker on the train than on the bus and to go to Cardiff again would be nice.

“Sometimes you have the odd one [bus] that doesn’t turn up… [it] takes a long time to get from A to B.

“It takes me nearly an hour on the bus to go from here to Barry which is… nearly 10 miles.”

Pressure

As well as the pressure on public transport, some residents said they had noticed the pressure on other services like schools, shops and surgeries.

David added: “It [the population] has trebled in my time and the facilities haven’t come here, like bigger schools and bigger shops.

“Apparently there are rumours of hundreds more houses being built here. I don’t mind that, but put the facilities that we need to go with them.”

­Kay Wilson, 51, said: “I see lots of benefits, so I would be pro [railway station].

“GP surgeries there is enough of… there is Llantwit, there is Cowbridge. I never use the one in St Athan.

“I like it [in St Athan], but the transport is a bit of an issue and I would be open to a train. I drive… and if I go out, it would be nice to have a train back.

“If I didn’t drive, like my niece… I know and I see it all the time about buses – [they are] not the most reliable.”

In the council’s currently adopted LDP, 220 homes were allocated for land at Higher End in St Athan and planning permission has been given for at least 133 so far.

An application for 100 homes on land at St John’s Well was approved by the council in 2015 and that site has now been completed. The other application for eight homes was approved in 2018.

Plans for 25 homes on land at Higher End were also approved more recently in May, 2024.

Construction of 253 homes on land to the east of Eglwys Brewis is well underway. The approved plans are just two homes short of the housing allocation for this site in the LDP.

Vale of Glamorgan Council also earmarked land at Church Farm for the development of 250 homes. As part of it’s RLDP, the council is also looking at extending the use of this site so that it could deliver up to 500 homes.

When asked about pressure on local services, Barbara Reid, said it was “very hard” to get a surgery appointment in the village.

“When we first moved here, there were permanently doctors in the… surgery,” she said.

“Now there is only nurses appointments.

“You can get bloods taken or nurse duties… but to see a doctor you either have to go to Llantwit or Rhoose, so there are no doctors in the village, which is crazy.”

Steve Overton said he didn’t use the surgery in St Athan, but was also worried about the pressure on local services.

He said: “I do know people who can’t get their children into the school down there because it is that packed.

“With these houses, if they come off, the surgery will be overwhelmed, the school. What are they going to give us for it?”

“Massive increase”

Vale of Glamorgan Council’s RLDP is still being prepared and is at a stage where potential sites for housing and employment developments are being looked at.

This stage, called the pre-deposit preparation and participation stage, also involves looking at what levels of population growth the plan should be based on and getting the views of various stakeholders on what the best strategy would be for the county.

Under the council’s preferred model of growth, it estimates that enough space for more than 8,600 homes could be needed.

Another site being considered for development in St Athan includes land to the west of the village, between Lantwit Road and the railway line, which could be earmarked for 600 homes.

Vale of Glamorgan Council member for St Athan, Cllr Stephen Haines, said: “It is a massive increase for St Athan.

“We have probably doubled in size in 10 years and there have been no extra services. The buses are awful and without the trains no-one can get anywhere.”

Cllr Haines said he was over the moon when the UK Government announced that it would help the council and TfW in developing a business case for a new station.

He added: “I had been working with Alun [Cairns] for some years trying to get a train station.

“I was over the moon when the money was coming to do a study… we were creating a group of people to try and force the business case and do the work there, so politicians up the line didn’t have to, and we have heard nothing since.

“I was told the money was going to come in September. We have heard nothing since. I suspect it is not coming

“I personally believe it is not going to happen at this point in time. I would love to be wrong on that I would love to receive a phone call from our present member of Parliament, who I have spoken with about the issue as well… but I just don’t see it happening.

“If it does happen, great. We will work with him, we will get it done, we will build a business case, but until it does happen, why the Vale keeps pushing these houses on us I don’t understand.”

When asked about his current concerns on local services, Cllr Haines said: “It is going to pull the village apart.

“If you don’t have the services, if you can’t go to a doctor, if you can’t get your child into the school and hundreds of extra cars on the road is just going to cause more problems.

“We don’t have policing as it is… it is just going to cause more and more trouble and affect the social cohesion of the communities.

“Where they are building the present set of housing, there is not even a shop up in that area.”

We asked the Department for Transport if it was working with the council and TfW on developing a business case for a railway station in St Athan and how much money had been contributed so far.

They referred us to the statement secretary of state for transport, Louise Haigh, made in July which reads: “The previous administration has left a £22 billion public spending gap this year alone – £2.9bn of which is unfunded transport commitments.

“Communities up and down the country have been given hope for new transport infrastructure, with no plans or funds to deliver them. This Government will not make that mistake.

“I am commissioning an internal review of DfT’s capital spend portfolio.

“We will bring in external expertise and move quickly to make recommendations about current and future schemes.

“This review will support the development of our new long-term strategy for transport, developing a modern and integrated network with people at its heart, and ensuring that transport infrastructure can be delivered efficiently and on time.”

Uncertainty

Despite the uncertainty around the future of the station plans, Vale of Glamorgan Council claims it is still working with the Department for Transport.

A Vale of Glamorgan Council spokesperson said: “The Council continues to work with Transport for Wales and The Department of Transport on developing the business case for a station in St. Athan.

“Strategic sites are currently proposed for St. Athan within the council’s Replacement Local Development Plan Preferred Strategy.

“This reflects its important position in the region and its relationship with the Enterprise Zone and other areas offering employment opportunities.

“Placemaking work will soon take place with the community to inform this process.

“This will help establish the type of infrastructure required to support these developments and enhance the range of services within St. Athan.”

Transport for Wales has also been approached for a comment.