Plans to revitalise a part of Barry town centre which has been called an eyesore by some residents are expected to be brought before a planning committee this year.
This is what Vale Council leader Lis Burnett told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) in an interview in November when talking about a scheme to transform Broad Street Clinic.
Last May, the council announced it had appointed contractors to develop a masterplan for the scheme which will involve demolishing the current clinic and building affordable homes in its place.
As part of the wider plans, the Gladstone Road Bridge Compound site will also be redeveloped into apartments.
This is one of a number of major developments that people in Vale of Glamorgan can expect updates on in the new year.
Other schemes include the plan to build hundreds of new homes on land at Upper Cosmeston Farm and the proposal to redevelop Barry Waterfront, which is back on track after the UK Government confirmed that the area would receive funding.
Here is a closer look at those developments.
Broad Street, Barry
“Most people think it is derelict,” said Cllr Burnett, when she was talking about Broad Street Clinic in an LDRS interview last year.
“It’s not. It is still a working clinic.”
Despite it not being derelict, the building has been called an eyesore by some residents in the past and Cllr Burnett said herself that it is not up on the high priority list for the local health board.
However, she added that the council is working with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (UHB) to build a new clinic.
The Broad Street masterplan involves three phases.
- Phase one will see the old Compound site redeveloped into 46 apartments for older people and a new healthcare facility.
- Phase two will see Broad Street Clinic demolished and a new apartment block built there consisting of 34 affordable homes. There will also be potential for commercial use on the ground floor.
- The third phase will see improvements made to the road and public realm around the development.
Cllr Burnett said: “I understand it will be coming to planning sometime around the end of [2024], early [2025].”
Upper Cosmeston Farm
The Welsh Government has decided not to call in plans to build 567 homes on land at Upper Cosmeston Farm.
Vale Council has already given its seal of approval for the development to go ahead and has put itself forward as part of a partnership to build the homes.
However, a document titled ‘Welsh Government Planning Decisions Branch Casework’ showed in August 2024 that a call-in request for the development was still under consideration.
The latest update on that document in December shows that the call-in request, initially made in 2020, is no longer there.
A letter, sent by the head of planning casework at the Welsh Government to the council, states that he does not think the application should be called in for determination by Welsh Ministers and that it is now for the local authority to “determine the application as it sees fit”.
The proposal to develop on the land just outside of Penarth and near Cosmeston Lake proved controversial, with some residents and councillors raising concerns about the impact it will have on green space and the coastal path there.
Cllr Kevin Mahoney, who represents the Sully ward as an independent, raised concerns about the development in the past, saying it would put pressure on services in an area which is already “chock-a-block”.
Those who are in support of the development argue that there is a need for more housing in the county and point to 50% of the proposed new homes being affordable.
Barry Waterfront
A scheme to redevelop part of Barry Waterfront looks to be back on track after the UK Government confirmed the town’s success in receiving funding for it.
Vale Council found out in early 2023 that it was unsuccessful in a bid for levelling up funding for Barry Waterfront.
After months of waiting to find out whether the new Labour Government would give the go-ahead to a number of funding projects, the council announced in October that Barry would receive £19.9m to regenerate an area of the waterfront known as the Mole.
The project will involve the development of a new watersports centre, a marina and a new park.
Vale Council said the town’s historic Dock Office will also be transformed into a new commercial space for businesses.
Partners on the projects include Associated British Ports, The Ocean Watersports Trust and Cardiff and Vale College.
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