Campaigners claim report shows Model Farm project is ‘unviable’
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Campaigners against the proposed business park at Model Farm, Rhoose, have seized on a ‘viability report’ released by developers Legal & General and are claiming it shows that the sums behind the project simply don’t add up.
Last September, the Vale Council quashed planning permission for the development after a judicial review said that a ‘viability report’ should have been included in the planning application.
A viability report can be used as a basis for Section 106 negotiations with the council to determine what financial contributions developers should pay to improve local infrastructure.
The recently-released viability report reveals the land cost £8.8 million to purchase, and L&G expects to make a loss of £6,157,000 on total costs of £72,872,000.
Maxine Levitt of Vale Communities Unite said: “The project is not viable and there is no scope for Section 106 obligations as the report’s authors have assessed and concluded.”
She pointed to another report produced by Avison Young, a commercial estate agency, in May 2020, which said: “We think it unlikely that this level of demand exists in this location. Competition from existing business parks and the recently launched Brotathan Development will undoubtedly have a detrimental impact on take up.”
Ms Levitt added that, if the park were to be built, money would have to be spent on improved roads in the area. The viability report suggested that the developers were not going to be in a position to contribute so the cost would fall on the Vale Council or the Welsh Government.
Many people opposed to the development say that plans for Model Farm have been in the pipeline for so long that they have been overtaken by events. They say that Cardiff Airport was expected to expand but it did not and, indeed, due to Covid, it may take years before it gets back to where it was three years ago.
In addition, the Welsh Government has been offering land at St Athan Business Park to prospective tenants.
What is more, this week the possibility of a business park on reclaimed land at Aberthaw Power Station came to light (see story, £1.2 billion consortium… on page 4). The park, described by the developers as “large-scale” would be another competitor to a business park at Model Farm.
Andrew RT Davies, who represents the Rhoose ward on the Vale Council, said, “The Vale Council have declared both climate and nature emergencies. Yet they decided to allow developers to concrete over Model Farm.
“The Minister must intervene, use her powers to call in the application, and stop this unnecessary destruction of land the Jenkins family have farmed for generations.
“If a business park is being explored for the Aberthaw site, then it must surely render the Model Farm plans redundant.
“There are already a number of empty facilities that are supposed to be fulfilling the role of business parks in the area, such as Brocastle and St Athan, lying empty. So, it is questionable whether the demand is there.”
Plaid Cymru councillor Steffan Wiliam said: “It is highly disappointing that the planning application for Model Farm has been re-instated this quickly. Both Welsh Government and the Vale Council have declared Climate Change and Nature Emergencies.
“There is no way that a development on greenfield land, designed for the aviation industry, can co-exist with policies to reduce climate change and promote nature and biodiversity.
“More than that, the plans impact on the livelihood of local farmers who have worked the land at Model Farm for generations.
“For all those reasons and more, Plaid councillors voted against these plans last time.
“Before these plans progress any further, Welsh Government Ministers should make it clear that the Model Farm proposals are unacceptable.”
The Vale Council’s planning committee will reconsider the application, and vote on the proposal, but it’s unclear when this will be. It is also possible that the Welsh Government could call-in the decision and have the final say.
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