Wales round-up: Derelict Rhondda site earmarked for 172 homes; Waste from across Wales could be brought to a Cardiff incinerator

Derelict Rhondda site earmarked for 172 homes

The redevelopment of a derelict site of a former fire extinguisher factory in the Rhondda Valley has been recommended for approval by planners at Rhondda Cynon Taff Borough Council.

The Planner

Infrastructure can be used to unlock housing – RTPI

The ability to unlock large housing developments should be made an explicit criterion in assessing infrastructure, says the RTPI.

The Planner

Waste from across Wales could be brought to a Cardiff incinerator

Environmental services giant Viridor has applied to Cardiff City Council to vary the existing planning permission for its Splott energy-from-waste facility in Cardiff Bay.

Wales Online

Investment will ‘improve bathing water’ in Aberarth

Welsh Water is investing £300,000 to improve the quality of bathing water in Aberrant, Ceredigion, in a move that will also reduce the risk of flooding and pollution entering Cardigan Bay.

BBC News

Fresh plans lodged for £12m Conwy Falls hydro power scheme

Fresh plans have been lodged for a controversial £12m hydroelectric scheme on the River Conwy. RWE Innogy UK wants to build the power station on the Conwy Falls, south of Betws-y-Coed - one of the most scenic stretches of the river. The Snowdonia National Park Authority rejected the initial plans.

BBC News

£500,000 investment in mid-Wales business park will support business growth

The Welsh Government is investing more than £500,000 in site infrastructure works to expand Presteigne’s Broadaxe Business Park to meet the growing demand for accommodation from business.

Welsh Government 

Flintshire’s first crematorium gets go-ahead after inquiry

The first crematorium to be built in Flintshire has been given the go-ahead after an appeal inquiry. Developer Memoria Ltd is planning a facility on land near the village of Northop.

BBC News

Burry Port Harbour site for sale to encourage regeneration

Llanelli Joint Venture, a partnership between the Welsh Government and Carmarthenshire Council, is advertising a 1.1-hectare site at Burry Port Harbour with planning consent for mixed-use development in a bid to encourage regeneration in the area.

BBC News

Nant Helen mine to be mothballed with loss of 75 jobs

An opencast mine in Powys is to be mothballed for two years with the loss of 75 jobs. Celtic Energy is closing its Nant Hele opencast mine at Coelbren, Powys because Wales’s biggest coal-fired power station, Aberthaw, is downgrading its operations from April.

BBC News 

260 jobs Cross Hands retail park plans approved at third try

Developer Conygar’s proposals to build a new retail park at Cross Hands in Carmarthenshire have been approved at the third time of asking.

BBC News

New Pontypridd Taff Vale precinct office plans submitted

New plans for a riverfront office, restaurant and car park development in Pontypridd have been submitted.

BBC News

Plans to develop facing buildings causes outrage among residents

Applications to the Vale of Glamorgan Council to convert a former church and hotel opposite each other in Barry have provoked huge objections from residents.

Wales Online