Green light for 152-home development on Welsh colliery site

Not-for-profit housebuilder United Welsh will offer a “signifcant proportion” of the development as affordable housingPlans to build 152 new homes on the site of the former Windsor Colliery in Abertridwr, Wales, have been approved by the local authority.The proposals by housing association United Welsh were approved by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee at a meeting this week.The Windsor Colliery opened in 1895, raising its first coal in 1902. It was joined with the Nantgarw Colliery in 1974, and closed in 1986. The site was remediated in 2007.Development proposals include 29 one-bedroom flats, as well as 52 two-bedroom and 71 three-bedroom houses and apartments, of both market and social housing.The development will take place on the site of the former Windsor Colliery, south of Ysgol Ifor Bach, and will consist of both market housing and social homes.A new access road to the site just south of Ysgol Ifor Bach is included in the proposals.Councillors recommended that the application be approved subject to conditions, stating that it “would make an important contribution to the provision of housing” and noting that “a significant proportion of the dwellings would be provided as affordable units.”Council planners note that “local residents have raised significant concerns,” with 26 letters of objection to the plans received.>>See also: Gove ‘shames’ major social landlords for letting down tenantsAmong these were fears of possible instability from the disturbance of the old coal tip, loss of privacy to residents in the nearby Ty’n Y Parc estate, plus concerns that medical, transport and road facilities wouldn’t cope with more residents.As part of an environmental impact study, the proposals looked at mining legacy issues.Council documents state that The Coal Authority “is satisfied that an adequate assessment of the coal mining risks associated with this development has been carried out” and that “the proposal is considered to be acceptable from a mining risk perspective.”The Invasive Plant Species Officer noted the location plan includes a section of the Nant Llan watercourse, an area “heavily infested with both Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam.”It will be treated with herbicide later this year, having been treated previously in 2022.No objections were raised by the councillors consulted and the plans were approved subject to the usual conditions.United Welsh has a turnover of £40m and plans to build 1,300 more homes over the next five years. It manages 6,300 homes for people across 11 local authority areas.Caerphilly County Borough Council has been approached for comment.