Bridgend Council Approves Final Draft of Local Development Plan

Members of Bridgend Council have green-lit a final draft of their new Local Development Plan, which sets out how land in the borough will be used over the next 10 years.
The approved document will now serve as the strategic master plan for the area, as well as the basis for all decisions on land-use and planning up until 2033.
Within the plans, the main proposals identified a number of key “strategic development sites” which included locations for 788 residential homes at Island Farm, as well as more than 1,000 new homes on the Porthcawl sea-front regeneration area.
Elsewhere, land east of Pyle could see the construction of over 2,000 new homes, along with locations in Pencoed, and to the west of Bridgend which are both expected to see around 800 homes built on them.
The plans also include a number of smaller developments in places such as Ewenny Road, Maesteg and in the Llynfi Valley. In total it proposes the creation of more than 7,000 homes including 1,700 affordable dwellings to meet an expected increases in population, as well as the development of 7,500 new jobs.
The report also added that there had been alterations to one potential housing site, with land at Parc Afon Ewenni “de-allocated” as a residential allocation due to flood risks.
Speaking after the meeting a council spokesperson said: “The RLDP incorporates several development sites including locations at Porthcawl, Pyle, Pencoed, Island Farm and land to the west of Bridgend as well as sites within the town centre master plan.
“The master plan proposes making enough land available to support projected increases in population, the development of 7,500 new jobs and the construction of 7,575 homes including 1,700 affordable dwellings, some of which have already been built.”
“The development plan makes provision for new social and community infrastructure including five new primary schools, transportation developments such as park and ride facilities for Porthcawl and the proposed Brackla railway station, extended/new park and ride facilities at Pyle, Maesteg Ewenny Road and Pencoed, and a new replacement road bridge over the railway at Pencoed.”
Officers said the latest version of the plans had taken over six years to develop and would now be one of the most important strategic documents that the council would have in place moving forward. They added that Welsh Government planning inspectors had also looked at the plans and deemed them sound.
Cllr Rhys Goode thought the move was extremely positive, saying: “It now means that we can adopt a strategic approach to planning applications for residential, commercial and leisure development that will ensure we can meet future demand between now and 2033 while also encouraging fresh investment and employment.
“The Bridgend RLDP will ensure that applications by developers are considered in a controlled and coordinated way and planning permissions will only be granted when specific, robust criteria is met.”
Cllr Simon Griffiths was also in favour of the proposals, and noted that rejecting them would create a free-for-all for developers who would be able to make applications for any location to build whatever houses they wished.
Cllr Steven Bletsoe commented, saying that while he was supportive of the plan he would like to see it’s development align more with election term times in the future, so that members could be more involved.
Members at the meeting later voted unanimously to approve this version of Bridgend’s local development plan. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​