Working Group update - December 2012

Dear Colleagues

It has been some time since we last produced an email. Basically things have been quiet as we continue to wait for a date from RCT when they will be considering the outline planning application for the new town centre.

More recently some associated planning activity has taken place:

1. Sainsbury submitted a detailed planning application for their store. Essentially there is little that is new, but as a working group we did submit a response which can be accessed through our blog here.

2. The RCT website stated that both the outline and detailed planning application would be considered on 6 December but this was then withdrawn. We are preparing to make verbal submissions and generally lift campaigning activity if, as currently expected, they are put before the council in January or February.

3. Cardiff County Council has started consultation on their Local Development Plan which among other things involves a housing development of 2750 North of junction 33 see here.

4. Renishaw who have taken over the ex Bosch factory South of junction 34 intend to submit an outline planning application to the Vale of Glamorgan council to develop the site, increasing the size of the factory and in the longer term providing a warehouse / distribution facility together with one catering for training and R&D.

Although not part of RCT both the Cardiff and Vale development will impact upon access and life in and around Pontyclun. Some of us, however, can see considerable merit in the Renishaw application when compared to that of the New Town Centre. The problem we face is that we live on the boundaries of these three councils and close to the M4 so they impact upon us, but we are outside two of the planning areas. The Welsh Government is moving toward a planning strategy that be regionally based upon major urban areas. It would have been helpful to us if this was the current approach but it seems unlikely that the LDP system will change in the current cycle, going up to 2026.

However, despite living outside of Cardiff and the Vale it is possible for us to comment and we should do so. The Pontyclun Community Council should be invited to respond and this seems an effective way through which our comments could be made – especially as a number of us involved in the working group are now community councillors!

It would be very useful to bring people from Pontyclun together early in the New Year discuss how we might respond to these new developments. Let us know if you would be interested in coming to a public meeting.

All the best and seasonal greetings

Len Arthur and Claire Williams for the working group

Our response to Sainsbury's planning application

Email sent on behalf of the Pontyclun New Town Centre Working Group

For the attention of Mr Jim Bailey

Representation on Planning Application 11/1330/13 (addendum and revised plans received August 2012) and the Talbot Green Town Centre (Phase 1) Design and Access Statement September 2012.

Land adjacent to Cowbridge Road and A473 (inc Leekes Dept Store, former Purolite works and Staedtler factory site), Talbot Green, CF72 8XU.

Dear Mr Bailey

This is the third submission from the Pontyclun New Town working group. The first two submitted in December 2011 and September 2012 should be read as providing the main response to the September 2012 Design and Access Statement taking forward Phase 1 of the proposed development in relation to the establishment of a new Sainsburys Supermarket.

We remain concerned that the September Phase 1 application again refers in detail to the discussions between the developer and RCT but has little regard to the issues we have raised on behalf of the community. We trust and hope that the councillors will have proper regard the issues raised in our submission when they consider the proposals on 6 December 2012.

In this submission we wish to emphasis two points made that we made in the earlier submissions.

1. The basic assumption of the plan is to encourage the diversion of local car based retail consumers from in RCT and other local areas to this development. Yet the plan still does not include a specific plan to improve the highway structure to accommodate your planned expected increase in traffic. The junction of the A473 and the A4119 is already a bottleneck at peak times, resulting in ‘rat runs’ through other largely residential areas. This will undoubtedly increase if this development progresses without prior attention to the highway infrastructure.

2. The plan for Sainsbury’s continues to include building on a greenfield area when sufficient space is available on brownfield land.

In addition to the points highlighted above we note under section 3.3 that contamination of the ex Purolite site was identified and ‘remediation work to the ground has been carried out’. We would wish to be provided with details of what this work entailed and how it is expected to cope with the contamination identified?

We attach for completeness our previous letters in response to the application(s).

Kind regards

Yours sincerely

Claire Williams & Len Arthur

On behalf of the Pontyclun New Town Centre Working Group

42 Heol Miskin

Pontyclun

CF72 9AJ