Leader of Cardiff Council, Huw Thomas, has described the failure of the Welsh Government to make a planning decision on the proposed Cardiff Parkway mainline train station and integrated business park project “as inexplicable as it is indefensible." In a letter to First Minister Eluned Morgan he said it is also portraying Wales in an “extremely unfavourable” light to would-be investors.
It is now more than two years since the project was called in by the Welsh Government as a development of national significance, and nearly three years since it secured planning approval from Cardiff Council. With a train station required as part of its first phase, over the long-term it could see 900,000 sq ft of mainly office development on the outskirts of Cardiff at St Mellons.
In October, First Minister Eluned Morgan confirmed that she would make the decision as swiftly as possible. However, any decision will now not be made until later this month at the earliest, after the Welsh Government asked the company behind the proposed project, Cardiff Parkway Developments - in which the Cardiff Bay administration has a minority equity stake - and other interested parties to respond to a number of issues by January 15th.
A letter from Hywel Butts, the Welsh Government’s head of planning casework, states: “The First Minister is considering the merits of requiring the delivery of a functioning railway station before occupation of employment floorspace in the initial phase of development. Your comments on this matter would be welcomed, including those relating to the likelihood of establishing public transport journeys from the outset.”
As construction of the mainline station will be out of the company’s control and would involve Network Raill, there would be push back against the idea that any office space couldn’t be occupied and generating rental income until the station is operational.
Any office buildings will not be started anyway until there are pre-let deals with tenants agreeing to lease space before construction begins. The section 106 agreement with Cardiff Council for the project also mandates the delivery of the station in phase one, alongside 300,000 sq ft of commercial development, environmental mitigation, and utility and road infrastructure.
Cardiff Parkway Developments has already acquired the necessary land on the south side of the scheme to allow the slewing of the existing lines to accommodate four platforms.
The original cost of a four platform station was estimated at £120m. If planning is approved, due to construction inflation over the two years, Cardiff Parkway Developments would need to reappraise not only the cost of the station, but the required rail infrastructure.
The original private sector funding model was based on Transport for Wales leasing the train station - offset against car parking income- to provide security for long-term private sector borrowing.
As it stands, Cardiff Parkway Developments, whose other shareholders are Investec and the Roberts family, are maintaining the position of a four platform station which would allow for both local and cross-border rail services rather than starting with two.
If a financial gap is identified, it will be a matter for the Ƶ Government to provide a funding solution, as rail infrastructure is not a devolved matter. Last month there was unanimous cross-party support amongst Cardiff councillors backing a motion for both the station and business park to be approved by the Welsh Government.
A letter seen by BusinessLive Wales from Mr Thomas to the First Minister, says: “This private sector development, which will see a new station unlocked by wider commercial investment, was approved by the Cardiff Council planning committee in April 2022. Unfortunately, the subsequent Welsh Government call-in process has left the project in a state of uncertainty for well over two and a half years.
"Cardiff Parkway is based in a part of Cardiff with the largest population pool in Wales that has no access to a rail station. Alongside the pressures faced by our bus services, this leaves residents isolated. This not only impacts economic opportunity, but also affects congestion and the local environment.
“The scheme also has the potential to support up to 6,000 jobs by attracting high-quality and well-paid employment opportunities as part of a science park-style campus development on a mainline train station. Wales currently has no proposition of this type, and there is a real need to support investment in sustainable, transport-led projects such as this.
"We have already seen Rolls-Royce confirm Cardiff Parkway as a site for a potential new hub - and they have cited the site’s direct connectivity to cities along the Great Western Mainline as a key draw.”
Engineering giant Rolls-Royce has opened a satellite office at a nearby business park to the proposed development, where it is actively recruiting for 200 staff. However, it has appraised Cardiff Parkway, due to its rail connections, as a potential hub, with the prospect of creating thousands of jobs linked to its involvement in a multi-billion-pound contract for a new fleet of attack nuclear submarines for the Australian government.
Mr Thomas added: “The scheme is an example of exactly the type of project that Wales would want to present at the recently announced investment summit (confirmed by the First Minister last November). Indeed, Cardiff Parkway could be front and centre of the summit - and we would also be very much open to discussing the potential to host the event in Cardiff.
“In summary, First Minister, the near three-year delay this project has endured is as inexplicable as it is indefensible. It is an affront to local decision-making; it has left a poor and marginalised community in limbo; it flies in the face of ambitions to grow the economy, and it portrays Wales in an extremely unfavourable light to would-be investors. You have a historic opportunity to right this wrong and to set a new direction which is bold and ambitious. I would urge you to seize the moment.”
Mr Thomas called on the First Minister to make a decision before the next full Cardiff Council meeting on January 30th when the council will be seeking to agree the ‘deposit stage’ of its replacement local development, with Parkway maintaining its status of playing a key part in the employment strategy.
The Parkway scheme falls under the constituency of now backbench MS Vaughan Gething. At the last First Minister’s Questions before the Christmas recess, he asked the First Minister for an update on when a decision could be made, adding that the continued delay could deter investment in Wales.
Ms Morgan is hoping to entice global investors and inward investment projects into Wales on the back of an international investment summit which is expected to be staged in the autumn.
Mr Gething said of the project: “It is based on land allocated for development in the Cardiff local development plan that was approved by Welsh Government planners. More than two years after being called in, and after two planning inspectorate inquiries and reports, the Welsh Government has still not been able to make a decision, with a further delay announced.
"The further representation sought on the schedule of building the rail station first is, of course, already part of a section 106 agreement, and arrangements for public transport (buses during the construction phase) to the site are not in the developer’s individual gift. All of these questions could, of course, have been asked in the previous two years.
“I support the First Minister’s priority to speed up planning decisions to help grow the economy, and I welcome the investment summit that she has already announced. However, the length of time taken in not making a decision on Parkway is deeply unhelpful and will not act as a magnet for investment. Will the First Minister confirm that she will take a decision, whichever it is, as soon as practical, to finally give certainty to Parkway?
Ms Morgan responded: “You’re quite right; this application has taken far too long, and it is important that we try to get a decision, one way or the other, in the next few weeks. I can assure you that I will be making a decision on this as soon as possible.”
