Latest plan for capital’s bus station is revealed
CARDIFF’S much-delayed bus station development, complete with shops, offices and flats, could create more than 900 jobs and add more than £50m to the economy, its developers have claimed.
Fresh details of the long-awaited city centre scheme have been revealed in a planning application which has now been submitted to Cardiff council.
It marks the latest phase of the Central Square project, which also includes the neighbouring BBC headquarters among the buildings being constructed on the doorstep of Cardiff Central Railway Station.
The £72.5m project has been beset by controversial hold-ups, with many passengers complaining the capital has gone without a bus station since the previous one shut in August 2015.
But the new scheme – dubbed the Interchange – has now come a step nearer to being realised after the planning documents were this week lodged with officials by the developer Rightacres.
It is hoped the new bus station could be up and running in late 2020.
But it is estimated that the wider scheme, including offices and flats, will take 139 weeks – or nearly three years – to complete.
Some new images of the planned scheme have been released by Cardiff-based Holder Mathias Architects.
The plans confirm that the station itself would include a 14-stand interchange with 1,200sq m concourse and about six shops.
Public toilets would be provided within the station concourse on the ground floor, while above the station there would be private car parking for 249 spaces.
Of those spaces, 225 would be for BBC workers and 24 will be for workers in the new offices but none would be allocated for people living in the new apartments.
The scheme would also include 144 cycle spaces, on double-stacked stands, for public use. There would also be 50 cycle spaces and shower facilities for use by the office development, and 160 for the apartments
Meanwhile, there would be 305 residential apartments in the Interchange building, which would rise to 82.25m at its highest point.
These would consist of 16 studio apartments, 172 one-bedroom apartments, 103 two-bedroom apartments, and 14 three-bedroom apartments.
The planning statement, produced by Lichfields planning and development consultancy, notes: “The transport interchange is one of the key elements of the Central Square masterplan. The provision of a highquality
The bus station could be up and running by late 2020 bus interchange, in close proximity to the Cardiff central station as well as Cardiff city centre will assist in promoting sustainable travel throughout the city.
“The positioning of the bus interchange at this location presents a unique opportunity to deliver an integrated transport solution, including a new bus station with easy links to the train station minimising the travel distance between these two vital modes and featuring logically and conveniently placed facilities to meet all the needs of a traveller, eg ticket sales, assistance points, toilets, shops and restaurants.”
The Interchange aims to connect with the forthcoming South Wales Metro public transport project, in a bid to cut car use in the city centre.
The station has been designed to allow vehicle access from Wood Street and Saunders Road, allowing for flexibility on event days such as home Six Nations matches when Wood Street would be closed to traffic.
The main pedestrian entrance would be from Central Square and Marland Street, with entrances also provided to Wood Street and Saunders Road.
The £100m project is being delivered by the Metro Delivery Partnership (MDP), made up of Cardiff council, the Welsh Government, property development firm Richtacres and Network Rail.
The Welsh Government recently acquired the site from Cardiff council for £15m, including the rights to the original design, transport analysis, ground conditions, utility information and architectural principles.
The station will be operated by the Welsh Government’s at arm’s length transport body, Transport for Wales.
Latest documents confirm that developers have held meetings with Principality Stadium officials, as well as representative from rail companies, bus operators and the Welsh Counter Terrorism Unit, as they drew up their proposals.
The application will be considered by Cardiff council’s planning committee in due course. The scheme already had consent for enabling works, with work up to ground floor level having begun in April.
The design statement notes: “The proposed development therefore represents a significant new capital investment in the area, which will help to enhance the profile of Cardiff city.”
It adds: “The development presents a unique opportunity to co-locate the bus interchange alongside the central train station so that movement from one to the other is seamless. The benefits of the scheme are clear and for this reason Lichfields consider that the application for planning permission should be approved.”