Authority:

Rhondda-Cyon-Taf County Borough Council

Proposed Development:

The full planning application is seeking permission for the following development:

• New 270 place primary school with Meirthin (inclusive of 30 places)
• New grass pitch (without flood lighting);
• New Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA);
• New games court.
• New one way drop off parent zone and new car park (33 spaces) and visitor car parking.
• New pedestrian footpath.

Background

The school buildings on site are in very poor condition (category D), and are in need of significant investment, with a backlog maintenance of circa £1 million pounds.  As a result, the existing school building and site are no longer fit for purpose.

Due to the modern-day standards of 21st Century schools, the site is not suitable for redevelopment. Consequently, an alternative site has been sought to accommodate a new school with ancillary facilities, such as external hard and soft landscaped areas with on-site parking for staff, suitable bus drop off and pick up and safe deliveries/refuse collection.

Planning Issues:

The site required significant remediation work due to the former use as the Chubb Factory.  Early engagement and agreement on the remediation strategy was essential to allow these works to commence immediately.  In addition, there were ecological species present which had to be removed and translocated.  The site also sits within an allocated employment site and robust justification for the departure from the development plan was required.  A new pedestrian crossing was proposed to provide a safe route across Ffladau Terrace. This resulted in the loss of some on-street car parking.

Result:

KEW Planning conducted the Pre-Application Consultation (PAC), which also involved a public exhibition; prepared the Planning, Design and Access Statement, reviewed all the technical documents and co-ordinated the submission of the planning application.  KEW Planning was instrumental in engaging with Natural Resource Wales and Public Health to ensure agreement of the remediation strategy at an early stage.  The application received a unanimous approval at planning committee in December 2022.