A bowling alley that once featured in Netflix comedy Sex Education will be turned into housing after councillors approved plans for the site. The Rhondda Bowl Skittle Alley in Tonyrefail excited locals when it was featured in the hit show's third season back in 2021.
But the site now looks set for a different future after a council planning committee approved plans for a 100% affordable housing scheme made up of 20 houses and flats at the alley on Waunrhydd Road on Thursday, June 22.
This was a reserved matters application to consider matters such as access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale. The original outline application for the demolition of the Rhondda Bowl and the residential redevelopment of the site was allowed on appeal in 2017.
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A Section 73 application, to extend the life of that consent, was later approved since there had been no material changes to planning policy or the context of the site. Although the approved outline plans indicated a development of 27 homes, this application has reduced the size of the development to 20 affordable homes.
The flats would be arranged in two three-storey blocks with a central communal entrance to each and would have access to cycle and bin stores and external clothes drying space, whereas the houses would be two-storey and have private rear gardens. All communal areas and the space to the front of the homes would be landscaped, with rain gardens as part of the site’s sustainable drainage strategy and 20 off-street parking spaces.
The planning report said that the extent of the site, together with the access point and position of the new homes are in line with the outline approval details. The report said that no letters of objection or representation have been received from the public.
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) for this development is expected to be £83,969.87 but social housing relief may be claimed on the social housing element of the development and therefore no CIL would be payable. The development, on behalf of Newydd Housing Association, would provide 100% affordable housing for social rent.
The report said that usually a Section 106 agreement would be required to ensure that the dwellings are established and maintained as affordable units for the continued purpose of meeting identified local housing needs, but on granting outline planning permission in 2017 the inspector secured this requirement through a condition for the approval of an affordable housing scheme. In recommending approval, planning officers said: “The application site comprises previously developed land within settlement limits which has already benefitted from outline planning consent for residential development, granted on appeal in 2017 and renewed in 2021.
“In respect of the reserved matters, the design, scale and layout of the development would make efficient use of the site and in addition to providing a welcome mix of house types to meet local needs, would result in a small development of an attractive appearance.” They added that “the proposed development is in accordance with the approved outline scheme and that the details relating to the approval of the reserved matters of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale are acceptable.
“The scheme would result in a more attractive development than that of the existing building and large area of hardstanding currently occupying the site, with the soft landscaping surrounding the site contributing to an enhancement of the street scene. In addition, the existing access arrangements to the site and leisure centre would be improved, and the new properties would be sited far enough from existing dwellings to ensure that third party amenity would not be harmed.”
