Firm reveals electric transport hub plans
PLANS have been submitted for an electric transport hub in Bridgend which would store and charge electric buses.
The plans by Cenin Renewables are for a oneacre site at Parc Stormy in Stormy Down.
The sustainable transport hub would include 16 parking spaces to store and charge electric buses, 16 HGV electric charging stations, 17 private vehicle parking spaces for staff, two private vehicle electric charging stations, and a hub container office.
In its planning statement Cenin Renewables said Parc Stormy was ideally located for the hub being between three of the key strategic regeneration growth areas – Porthcawl, Valleys Gateway and Bridgend – with excellent links to the A48 and M4 while also being less than 10 miles from Port Talbot.
It highlights the environmental benefits that could be achieved by replacing the county’s diesel bus fleet with electric buses and says its proposals would enable the county to operate electric buses in line with others like Newport and Cardiff.
It adds: “The benefit of renewable electricity generated on-site will be unique to Bridgend from the site’s diverse range of generation technologies, enabling a fully sustainable electric bus fleet with constant charging availability.”
Cenin Renewables, which owns the former airfield, has developed the site to include anaerobic digestion and concrete facilities, wind turbines and a solar farm.
The company says future development phases could involve increasing the capacity of electric vehicles and charging points to not only provide for zerocarbon buses but also for other transport vehicles such as vans and taxis.
It said that the existing bus depot at Brynmenyn was not in a realistic position to upgrade its existing infrastructure to include electric charging stations nor provide a new electric fleet with clean energy.
The company’s planning statement adds: “It is understood that the existing public transport fleet operator operates approximately 35 vehicles, operating 28 buses from the existing depot at Brynmenyn and an additional six vehicles from Port Talbot.
“This proposed development would provide the public transport fleet operator with a new sustainable transportation hub that would seek to achieve the future aims of Bridgend Borough County Council (BCBC) and Welsh Government by enabling a suitable zero-carbon bus scheme.”
It adds that with the transition of the county bus depot to Parc Stormy the land occupied by the existing bus depot could be released back to the market for redevelopment.
Merthyr Mawr Community Council said more information was needed regarding the application, saying in a letter to BCBC the effect on residents of large vehicles arriving at the site in the early hours and possibly late at night had not been considered.
Meanwhile archaeologists have said while there was a low chance the work would uncover any previously unknown archaeological remains, due to prehistoric and Roman remains having previously been found in the area, they might be disturbed.
The application number is P/19/550/FUL.