Trago Mills site gets even bigger after farm snapped up
THE massive Trago Mills retail store in Merthyr Tydfil could be set to get even bigger.
The shop currently sprawls across an area the size of five football pitches but it could soon be growing as the company has bought Brynteg Farm, which is next door.
Trago Mills is built on a 47-hectare site. The main shopping area opened earlier this year, with approved plans for a petrol station and leisure park to be added in the future.
The company wants to expand even more, and plans to use the extra land on the former smallholding at Brynteg Farm.
Trago Mills has already built six plateaux on land it owns to the west, which it plans to develop for car parking, leisure attractions and even a boating lake. It already has a huge soft play area for kids.
By buying Brynteg Farm, the company hopes to be able to create more outdoor space to make the outdoor attractions “less intensive” than what has already been approved.
A planning report, produced on behalf of Trago Mills, says: “The current application seeks to integrate the Brynteg Farm land into the wider Trago Mills site in order to improve the overall offer and provide flexibility in terms of the location of the leisure elements of the already approved scheme.
“It also provides an opportunity to potentially increase the types of informal leisure activities provided within the site, adding to the overall attractiveness and draw of the site, whilst allowing a number of less than ideal aspects of the original permitted development to be improved.”
At this early stage, Trago Mills has not confirmed exactly what it wants to do with the new land. It plans to submit an application to Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council seeking approval for engineering works only to prepare the ground for future development.
The planning report states any future leisure use could include the development of “animal or countryside-themed activities”, although there are currently no proposals to construct any buildings on the Brynteg Farm site.
When the store opening in April, people queued overnight to be the first to look around. It cost about £65m to build and created 350 jobs.
It’s the family-run business’ first foray outside of Cornwall and Devon and it is the company’s second biggest site.
Owner Bruce Robertson caused controversy after the store’s opening when he described Welsh language signage as “visual clutter”, criticised Welsh-medium education and advised people to embrace English in a letter to Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws.