Homes plan for old Coleg y Cymoedd site
Planners set to give the green light to proposals
PLANNERS are set to approve proposals for up to 110 homes to be built in place of the old Coleg y Cymoedd development in Aberdare.
The plans will mean the college’s buildings in Cwmdare will be removed and dozens of flats and bungalows built in their place.
It’s due to be discussed by Rhondda Cynon Taf council’s development control committee on April 20, and they are recommended to approve, subject to a number of conditions.
Plans have been submitted because Coleg y Cymoedd’s current campus will soon become unused, and is set to close to make way for Robertstown’s new £22m campus in September 2017.
And although there have been no objections to the development raised by the public, there are a number of ecological concerns. They include the issue of bats, some of which may still be living in the buildings.
The report says further survey work may be needed to determine evidence, and that the issue has not yet been “fully explored”.
It concludes that before planning permission is granted, Natural Resources Wales must first confirm sufficient bat survey work has been completed.
Ecological concerns also included the partial loss of an area of marshy grassland “considered to be of significant local biodiversity value”, although it is hoped the remaining area will be “enhanced” by the developers.
The land is a stone’s throw from the nowclosed Aberdare High School site – which will be transformed into 98 homes.
It comprises an area of 4.5 hectares, the majority of which has been operating as a college campus since 1959. Currently accessed from Cwmdare Road, the site has various large school buildings that are mostly two storeys and an area of college grounds nearby. To the west is Maesgwyn School and to the south is the former Aberdare High School, with the B4275 to the east.
The planning document says the site is considered “sustainably located”, with good connections for people who do not drive, and close to the town centre.
The homes would all have two car-parking spaces, and the site’s masterplan will include “measures to encourage walking, cycling and public transport use”.
It is recommended for approval, but must first fulfil a number of planning obligations, known as a Section 106 agreement. The most significant of those is a requirement that 10% of the homes are affordable, while others include a playground and that developers make a contribution for primary school places in the area.
It concludes: “The application, subject to further bat survey work and acceptance by Natural Resources Wales, would comply with the relevant policies of the Local Development Plan.”