Station must be built before business park, say campaigners against controversial development

Martin Shipton

A controversial plan to build a business park on protected land on the eastern outskirts of Cardiff should only go ahead if the private developer keeps a promise to build a train station first, campaigners have said.

A company chaired by businessman Nigel Roberts wants to develop Hendre Lakes Business Park and a large new station called Cardiff Parkway at which express trains to London would stop.

The scheme was granted planning permission by Cardiff council in April 2022, but called in by Julie James, who was then the Welsh Government’s Climate Change Minister. “Calling in” means the decision on an application is taken not by the council, but by Planning & Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), the planning inspectorate.

Investment

When the scheme was passed by Cardiff council, Mr Roberts said: “Our proposals are for a sustainable, well-connected business district with public transport and active travel at its heart. The project will bring investment to an area of Cardiff that needs it, create new employment opportunities, and better connect people in this region of south east Wales. We are aiming to deliver convenient and quick services, with a high-quality customer experience, particularly for public transport and active travel, to encourage sustainable transport to become the obvious choice.”

But campaign groups say granting permission for the scheme would breach Welsh planning policy because it would be built on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC). They also question the need for the development given widespread vacant office space elsewhere in Cardiff and the increasing incidence of homeworking.

In a letter to PEDW, Lyn Eynon, the planning lead for Cardiff Civic Society (CCS) said the application should be rejected outright, but if it is approved it is essential that no construction should commence until land to compensate for the loss of SSSI and SINC land has been identified and a functioning station is delivered before occupation of any employment floorspace.

‘Local needs’

Mr Eynon added: “CCS shares the desire for a rail station in the east of Cardiff, although we have argued that local needs would be better met by a location further to the west, closer to where more people live.

“We have long feared that the prospect of a station as a ‘free gift’ from the developer was clouding the judgement of decision makers. Now it appears that the delivery of a station could be delayed, perhaps indefinitely, if the developer is allowed to prioritise their interest in rental income from employment floorspace.

“The prospect of a new railway station at the eastern edge of Cardiff financed by private capital has always been at the heart of the justification for this application. Without it, there is no case that it should be seen as ‘wholly exceptional’ under [the relevant planning policy].

“The argument in Cardiff council’s statement to the re-opened hearing that this development would be appropriate … rests entirely on the provision of a new railway station. Cardiff council’s case for this development collapses without a railway station.

“Which railway station? We note that the letter of December 4 [from the Welsh Government’s head of planning casework] refers to a functioning railway station rather than the proposed railway station of four platforms, including two long enough for intercity trains to London.

“In an earlier submission, we challenged the viability of an intercity station just a few miles from Cardiff Central. GWR had already stated that they were not interested in stopping their trains there. The applicant’s hopes rested on the new Grand Union rail company, even though they had yet to receive a licence to stop at Cardiff Parkway. Grand Union has now been bought by First Group, owners of GWR, casting further doubt on this aspiration.”

Assumption

Mr Eynon went on to make the point that the December 4 letter requested comments on the likelihood of establishing public transport journeys from the outset: “It is not stated why this is now in question, as rail has been a central assumption throughout the process. Press reports have suggested that the developer no longer wishes to bear the full cost of station construction, despite Jo Stevens MP, Secretary of State for Wales, recently advocating it as ‘a railway station that will be privately funded with no public sector money’.

“The Local Development Plan specifies a station ‘served by relief line rail services connecting to the city centre and services to Cardiff Airport and London via Cardiff Central’. Reverting to this goal, rather than the hubristic ambition of intercity services, would be cheaper and quicker. It would cause less biodiversity damage and could even be located elsewhere.

“CCS is concerned that if development and occupation were allowed to proceed without a functioning railway station, that would create a risk that a station would never be built, or at least not for a long time. The incentive for the developer to construct this would be weakened, and the hope for a station without public funding would fade.

“Bus services would be a poor substitute for a rail station and could not handle the volume of those travelling to the site once office occupation commences. As we have pointed out in an earlier submission, the developer’s transport assessment concluded that even with a rail station around two thirds of travel to the business park would be by private car, a higher ratio than that to offices in central Cardiff.

“Without a rail station, virtually everyone working at or visiting the site would travel there by car. Most of these cars would travel on the M4 and/or the A48, in direct contradiction to the aspirations of the Burns report [on transport in south east Wales], and worsen traffic congestion for those living nearby.

“The Welsh Government can and should insist that a functioning railway station is delivered first if this development is to proceed.”

‘Cherry pick’

A letter to the Welsh Government from St Mellons Residents’ Group states: “Cardiff Parkway Developments Ltd (CPDL, the developer) has always made clear it would deliver the railway station first if given permission to construct the business park. However, CPDL seems less willing to fund the railway station.

“The developer cannot cherry pick the application, reneging on his promise, leaving local people without the rail link it has touted it’s delivering. The business park was described by a Conservative councillor at Cardiff’s planning committee as the bitter pill local people are being made to swallow to get a station – a ridiculous high rise business park, and a radical change in character to their local area.

“To put the construction of the business park ahead of the station phase, or even to bring it alongside it timewise, would constitute a significant change to the application in residents’ view and would breach the s106 agreement [covering community benefits] made within the hearings. To consult on, or grant consents on, non-station related buildings is in residents’ view unethical, even if it does not contravene planning law on which residents have no expertise.”