Plans submitted for new Valleys base of Department for Work & Pensions
PLANS for the new Valleys home of the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), which will bring more than 1,500 staff to the area, have been officially submitted to Rhondda Cynon Taf Council.
The DWP anounced earlier this month that it would be creating a new HQ in the Treforest Industrial Estate near Pontypridd, where it will locate various back office and benefit processing operations.
And now developers Rightacres Properties have officially submitted the planning application for the site, which could bring as many as 1,700 staff to the 14,844 sq metre development which is hoped will help to regenerate the area.
The DWP’s main base will be in the 260,000 sq ft UK Government public centre hub, which will house 4,000 staff, currently being built at the Central Square scheme in the centre of Cardiff.
In the design and access statement submitted with the application, the developers say the approval of this planning application can serve as the “catalyst for a large-scale reinvestment into the Treforest Estate of a scale and number of skilled jobs that has not been seen for a long number of years”.
It adds that the introduction of more than 1,500 people will “help sustain surrounding businesses and will present an opportunity to grasp the opportunity to influence how people travel to this important location”.
“Architecturally, it will set a quality benchmark of what is achievable here and encourage further invest- ment. It will increase the legitimacy of the estate as a current relevant business location,” it says.
“The design represents a new level of commitment to quality in this once cutting-edge Welsh business location. It offers excellent sustainability credentials and represents a good re-use of brownfield land.”
A pre-application consultation took place during November and December last year, during which transport and parking, design and flooding issues were raised.
The developers say that an estate wide Travel Plan has been included and there will be 252 car-parking spaces on the ground floor, with an additional 199 on land east of The Willowford, with public transport options such as buses and trains also cited.
A local resident has also requested that a crossing facility is provided across Main Avenue, which is included in the proposals.
In terms of flooding, finished floor levels have been raised in response to comments from Natural Resources Wales