Plans approved for new city railway station and business park

PLANS have been approved for a new railway station in east Cardiff alongside a business park, which could potentially include 15-storey office towers.

Cardiff Parkway railway station will be built on farmland in St Mellons, between Cypress Drive and Heol Las.

It’s unclear when construction will start but the station is due to open in 2024.

A neighbouring business park also now has planning permission with 90,000sqm of commercial floorspace, which could include buildings up to 15 storeys tall.

Cardiff council granted planning permission for the development at a meeting on April 4.

Councillors, however, raised concerns about the height of the office buildings and the impact on local ecology and wildlife, as the site is on the edge of the Gwent Levels.

Most buildings in that area are two storeys tall, and the landscape is very flat.

Councillor Iona Gordon said: “I’m 100 per cent behind the railway station. But it’s at a huge cost.

“We need and want a station, but [this is] at the cost of massive development of tall buildings on the flat Gwent Levels. I’m really concerned about the impact this is going to have.”

The development is being privately built by Cardiff Parkway Developments Ltd, with backing from the Welsh Government. Most new railway stations tend to be built by the public sector.

Developers have previously said the new railway station would mean journeys to Cardiff Central in seven minutes, and the business park would have the potential to provide 6,000 jobs.

Nigel Roberts, chairman of Cardiff Parkway Developments, said: “We’re delighted to have gained a positive outcome at the planning committee today for this project.

“Our proposals are for a sustainable, well-connected business district with public transport at its heart.

“This project will bring investment to an area that needs it, create employment opportunities, and better connect people in this region.”