Funding of £3.5m has been awarded to transform and developing an abandoned former industrial site in Maesteg. The site, based on Ewenny Road Industrial Estate near Maesteg, has currently been empty for more than 10 years, though under new proposals could be made suitable for a mixed-use development that features around 205 new homes, business enterprise units and a railway park and ride facility.
The grant, awarded by the Cardiff Capital Region, would also be used on several major infrastructure works, such as diverting a historic mining drain and backfilling several mineshafts to make the site ready for the proposed development. While the development has been in the planning stages for a number of years, the site's masterplan has had to be revised to ensure it could meet local housing, employment, and transportation needs.
Revisions were also made on potential retail units to avoid any impact on retail in Maesteg town centre, along with potential bus links and a park-and-ride facility located at the far western end close to Ewenny Road railway station. With the Cardiff Capital Region funding now in place, the revised plan will be subject to consultation as part of the planning process, before going to Bridgend County Borough Council's development control committee for a final decision.
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Councillor Neelo Farr, cabinet member for regeneration, said the development had been a number of years in the making and had overcome a number of challenges to get to this stage. She said: "This is exciting news for Maesteg and the county borough as a whole. The council has been working alongside site owners Pontardawe Coal and Metals Company Limited for several years now to bring the former industrial land at Ewenny Road back into use, and we have had to overcome a number of significant challenges.
"Its planned redevelopment has been many years in the making, and I am delighted that the £3.5m funding from Cardiff Capital Region has been instrumental in unlocking its potential. The revised plans are extremely wide-ranging and have the potential to bring major benefits to the Llynfi Valley." You can read more of our stories from Bridgend here, or subscribe to our dedicated newsletter here.
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