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Ambitious plans for one of the biggest regeneration projects ever seen in south Wales can be revealed.

It would see 5,000 new homes - effectively a new small town - as well as industrial and office space potentially creating thousands of new jobs.

The site is an area of 1,000 acres that was once mainly a huge opencast mining operation at Llanilid. It's located between Pencoed and Llantrisant and sandwiched by the M4 motorway to the south and the south Wales to Paddington Great Western mainline to the north.

It has been designated by Rhondda Cynon Taf council (RCT) not only as a key strategic development site for the county borough, but the wider Cardiff Capital Region.

While the development, due to its sheer size, could span 30 years, subject to planning it could see:

5,000 new homes located on just a quarter of the Parc Llanilid site (planning permission for 1,850 homes was granted in 2016)

located on just a quarter of the Parc Llanilid site (planning permission for 1,850 homes was granted in 2016) A new motorway junction to the south of site at a cost of £25m to £30m - located between the existing junctions 34 and 35 of the M4

to the south of site at a cost of £25m to £30m - located between the existing junctions 34 and 35 of the M4 A new hotel and leisure facilities

and leisure facilities A new primary school , health facilities and sporting pitches

, health facilities and sporting pitches A park and ride train station to the north of the site on the Great Western mainline

to the north of the site on the Great Western mainline More than 200 acres assigned for industrial and potential new office developments - potentially extending to hundreds of thousands of square feet that could create thousands of new jobs

A private developer-backed financial solution for the completion of the Llanharan bypass at the site, which is currently only a third completed.

And taking a wider regional approach to local development plans, something that the Welsh Government is insisting happens, the scheme could join up with the existing Pencoed Technology Park, which is just across the unitary authority border from RCT in neighbouring Bridgend.

(Image: Google)

Parc Llanilid, to give the site its current name, has been seen as a key development site since the cessation of opencast mining in 1997. After required reclamation work, by 1999 the site was in a fit enough state to accommodate alternative use development.

Just two years later it was earmarked for the so called Valleywood project - which promised to put south Wales on the film-making map with up to three million square feet of new film studios and affiliated office space, as well as a theme park, hotel and leisure facilities.

It was driven by consortium Dragon International Film Studios, chaired by the late acclaimed actor and producer Richard Attenborough.

However, despite the hype of creating 2,000 jobs and attracting stars and productions from around the world, all that the project delivered were four silent stages extending to 50,000 sq ft and unfinished road infrastructure.

While periodically used for filming, with the latest being for a US drama based on the young life of William Shakespeare, the studios, which remain in the hands of receivers, are currently used for storage.

And while some might have a degree of cynicism towards the latest plans following the demise of Valleywood, a failed project that left a trail of creditors owed millions of pounds in its wake, the new plans have a far more achievable feel - including helping to ease an acute shortage of new housing developments across the region.

Moreover, the site - which now bears little evidence of its once industrial scale mining past - is well-positioned for job-creating commercial developments, particularly in areas such as logistics and distribution, a sector well-placed for further growth and investment following abolition of tolls on the Severn bridges by the end of the year.

And in a major boost to realising the first phase of the project it is understood that a leading UK housebuilder is close to exchanging contracts to acquire two major land lots to the north and south of the Llanilid site, covering more than 700 acres for which there is already planning consent for the first wave of 1,850 new homes.

Developer interest

The land lots at Llanilid, formerly owned by the now-in-administration Cofton Wales, have been marketed for sale on behalf of receivers KPMG by the Cardiff office of property advisory firm Savills, who declined to comment on the current status of the sales process.

And in a separate deal, the middle section of land at Llanilid, covering 330 acres - although not including the film studios - was acquired from PwC by a new joint venture company, G&G Land, last year.

(Image: Richard Williams)

The directors of G&G are Nick Griffith, one of Wales’ leading commercial property investors, and Simon Grey, managing director of Llanmoor Homes.

Mr Griffith's commercial investments include the 500,000 sq ft Imperial Park in Newport, the 300,000 sq ft Waterton Point at Bridgend and the still-live plans for 200 acres of mixed-used development, including for 3,000 homes and 250,000 sq ft of commercial schemes, off junction 33 of the M4.

While not commenting on who could be in the frame to acquire the land lots immediately to the north and south of G&G Land's own land stake, Mr Griffith said: "G&G want to work on a collaborative basis to deliver a fully comprehensive scheme at Llanilid, which fulfils RCT’s ambitious strategic plan.”

And on the potential of the overall development site, Mr Griffith added: “Where is the next major employment site in south Wales going to happen? If you travel from Newport to Swansea for a substantial business opportunity then this, [Llanilid] provides it.”

Llanmoor Homes, which was set up by Mr Grey’s father Brian in 1966, has built more than 5,000 houses across south Wales, with its head office close to the Llanilid site at Talbot Green.

Llanmoor has already developed more than 350 homes consented back in 2008 at the former colliery and open cast site at the north eastern end of Llanilid known as Bryncae, which adjoins the village of Llanharan, which has a population of less than 5,000.

What are the transport plans?

Mr Grey said that it would take more than a decade to build 5,000 homes, but stressed that the scheme would not be car-centric but come with an integrated public transport solution and encourage cycle use on dedicated cycling paths across the development.

He said that as well as benefiting from plans for its own access to the M4 through the proposed new junction, the site could be reached from the centre of Cardiff quickly.

He added: “I know of some executives already living in Bryncae that walk to Llanharan train station in a matter minutes and then by train are in the centre of Cardiff in around 20 minutes.

“We also need to be talking to bus operating firms about aligning bus services from Llanilid to Llanharan and Pencoed train stations, while longer-term the development could see it own new train station.”

Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf council, Andrew Morgan, stressed that development, both residential and commercial, had to be cognisant of providing a strong public transport offer.

Mr Morgan said: “5,000 new homes will generate a lot of residential movements so we don’t want to see all those cars clogging up the M4.

“So, this is very much about making sure that the public transport is right in terms of bus services into Bridgend and Cardiff, and exploring the potential for having a new rail station there, which can connect to the Metro. And if not we need bus services to Pencoed and Llanharan.”

(Image: Western Mail)

What sort of development could it be?

For Mr Morgan - who also chairs the cabinet of the Cardiff Capital Region, made up of the leaders of the region’s 10 local authorities - Llanilid ticks all the right boxes in a £1bn plus gross development which he described as being similar to the regeneration of the former huge steelworks site in Ebbw Vale.

He said: “What we are looking at is more than £1bn of investment, over a 10-year to 30-year horizon, creating thousands of new jobs, including skilled job opportunities for local people.

“On the current site there is already in place development consent for 1,850 new homes, but there is a much wider area that has the potential for development.”

While it's still early days on the precise nature of commercial developments that could be realised, he said: “We are not boxing ourselves into one particular area, but with a new M4 junction it could be ideal as a major distribution site.

“These are the sort of developments we are looking at and exploring, but we are also looking at other industries like in the creative sector and expanding on the four film studios that are already there.

“We recently met with an American company [creative industries firm], so we will looking at whether it will be possible to bring a potential investment forward.

“So, we could be looking at light industrial, distribution and retail, but I wouldn’t like to see a retail park. And there is also potential for new office accommodation, as there is a shortage of grade A office space across the city region. We are actively talking to a number of developers.”

He said funding for the required transport infrastructure would come in the shape of community infrastructure levy and Section 106 agreements with developers, which would also include working towards finishing the Llanharan bypass - currently only one-third complete - and a new M4 junction. There is also potential for Welsh Government funding. One of the few positive legacies from Valleywood is that the Welsh Government had planned for an new M4 junction.

Just beyond the film studios the first section of the bypass is eerily empty and abruptly gives way to a dirt track on open land where opencast mining once dominated. Off that is another stretch of highway which was intended to meet Valleywood’s proposed M4 junction, but which also comes to a halt well short of its intended destination.

And while it will be down to the plans of developers, RCT see potential for major employment hubs at the southern end of Parc Llanilid that runs alongside the existing M4.

Will there be a new train station?

But what are the prospects for a new railway station at Llanilid? The Welsh Government’s transport body, Transport for Wales, in environmental impact assessments for future Metro developments, has not identified a new train station there as a next phase project.

Discussions would need to involve the Metro, electrification of the Valley Lines and the running of the next 15-year Wales and Borders rail franchise, but new park and ride station projects could focus on other locations along the line into Cardiff at places such as Brackla or Miskin.

The challenge is not necessarily the cost but - as a station that would also have to see trains to London passing through - rather getting Network Rail to give priority status for a new station so close to existing ones at Pencoed and Llanharan.

(Image: Media Wales)

Transport expert Prof Stuart Cole said: “In principle a new station at Llanilid is a good idea, providing there is a park and ride facility for 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles that takes traffic off the M4 from a new M4 junction, where the existing ones at Bridgend and Llanharan are far enough apart to justify one at Llanilid.

“But a new a train station is not easy and Network Rail’s first reaction would no doubt be you have a station at Llanharan, so you cannot have both on what is only a two track route.

“You also have to consider how many additional services could operate on the line as priority has to be given to Great Western mainline services from south Wales to London."

Prof Cole said the line from Pencoed into Cardiff could support one additional station. But the prospect of any new station at Llanilid being a stop for south Wales to London mainline services, as it stands, seems out of the question. That franchise, currently operated by Great Western Trains, is a matter for the UK Government.

If a station is not developed at Llanilid (over the lifetime of the next franchise) Prof Cole said that next best option would be looking to increase services in Cardiff and park and ride capacity - although it is a constrained site - at Llanharan train station.

Why is this site considered suitable for development?

Taking an economic impact overview on Llanilid, lead director of the Cardiff office of property advisory firm JLL, Chris Sutton, is upbeat on the potential to create a major new employment hub in central south Wales, acting like the hotspots north of London in places like Milton Keynes, Oxford and Cambridge.

Mr Sutton said: “If you are looking for sites of regional or national significance that can be developed then the Bridgend to Llantrisant M4 corridor, which also broadly tends to follow the Great Western Mainline, is one of those locations.

“Yes, there are opportunities along the Heads of the Valleys Road, but north of the M4 is constrained by where you can develop. The site [Llanilid] is not affected by flood plain in the way that say areas around south Cardiff and Newport are.

“The land is poor quality and has old spoilt heaps that have been levelled, so development would not be taking out grade A agricultural land like say in the Vale of Glamorgan.

“It is also central in south Wales, so dragging the core economic activity further westwards can only be a good thing.

“I think the way we need to look at this is that we spend enough time trying to find two acres here and there [for development], but we actually now need to start looking at the bigger picture.

“We need some drivers in terms of where the economy is going with e-commerce and distribution, which is going to become even more important. And we need to attract more higher value added activity in areas like automation and driverless vehicles.

He added: “Pencoed has been under the radar, but it has been very successful and one of those clusters where you are attracting high value added activity, with companies like Johnson and Johnson, Sony and their tenants, the Ortho Clinical Diagnostics operation and R&D-focused life sciences firms like ReNeuron.

"Llantrisant has also grown out of having strong communication links and with Bridgend they are two really strong locations and are, if you like, the manufacturing parks of south Wales.

“In terms of the UK, if you are looking at the growth corridor north of London, in Milton Keynes, Oxford and Cambridge, we somehow need to create our equivalent of that. Okay, we don’t have any red brick universities in that part of the world, but you do have the potential to create a corridor of growth between Bridgend and Llantrisant and including those two locations. And arguably you could drag that down and stretch it towards Port Talbot.

"So we need to plan for the economy of south Wales for the next 50 years and Llanilid provides a great opportunity over that time frame.”

What do people living nearby think?

If 5,000 homes are developed, that could see at least 10,000 extra residents.

Local community councillor Pam Uppal lives in Llanharan and represents Bryncae where she and her husband run a fish and chip shop and adjoining convenience store with a Post office. They are planning to invest £800,000 to fund a new building for their existing businesses, in anticipation of new customers from the inflow of residents.

Mrs Uppal said: “From a business view we want this development to happen, as we have been badly affected by the Co-op in Llanharan which opened in 2015."

However, speaking as a resident she said she has some concerns, noting that the doctor's surgery in Llanharan operates just two days a week.

"My concern would be that a huge expansion of homes would put an even greater strain on those services, so residents would want to see commitment to a new dedicated surgery before any development started,” she said, adding that it was vital that the regeneration of Llanilid also resulted in the completion of the Llanharan bypass.

(Image: Media Wales)

RCT cabinet member and councillor for Llanharan, Geraint Hopkins, said: “There is huge potential for the site, which is recognised as a key strategic opportunity for the whole of south Wales.

“And if you could get a link from the M4, and then a new link road off the motorway at Miskin to Cardiff Airport, the economic and employment potential for this part of south Wales is hugely exciting for the future, against all the concerns surrounding Brexit.

“There is also tremendous potential to deliver quality and affordable housing. But it is very important, as this is such a big development, that we get the infrastructure in first [Llanhran bypass and M4 junction].

On a potential new station on the Great Western mainline, Mr Hopkins, who has lived in Llanharan for 20 years, recognised it would not be easy but added: “But they also said that about a station at Llanharan which opened a decade ago, so anything is possible.”