Testun llawn:
Respondent: Resident of Gileston
Area of Interest: Gileston, St Athan and the Glamorgan Heritage Coast
1. Introduction and Context
I am a resident of Gileston and a regular user of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, surrounding public rights of way, and the local road network between Gileston and St Athan. My comments relate to the implications of the Deposit Replacement Local Development Plan (RLDP) for the setting of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, the villages of Gileston and St Athan, and the cumulative impacts of strategic development in this part of the Vale.
I recognise the need for the RLDP to support decarbonisation, renewable energy, and employment growth. However, the Plan must do so in a way that protects nationally important landscapes, avoids inappropriate development in sensitive locations, and ensures that communities hosting strategic development receive tangible infrastructure benefits.
2. Protection of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast and Its Setting
The Glamorgan Heritage Coast is one of the Vale’s most valuable environmental and recreational assets and is fundamental to the character, identity and wellbeing of nearby communities, including Gileston. While the Deposit Plan recognises the importance of the Heritage Coast itself, there is insufficient clarity and strength in policy terms regarding the protection of its wider setting, particularly from large-scale or industrial forms of development on adjacent greenfield land.
The RLDP should be strengthened to ensure that development proposals within the setting of the Heritage Coast are subject to a robust presumption against development where landscape character, visual amenity, tranquillity, or public enjoyment would be harmed. Without this clarity, there is a real risk of incremental erosion of the coastal landscape through development that may be justified as “strategic” but is poorly located.
3. Gileston and St Athan – Cumulative and Place-Based Impacts
Gileston is a small rural village with limited services and infrastructure, located adjacent to open countryside and the coast. St Athan, while larger and more developed, already experiences pressure from major employment and infrastructure uses, including the former MOD site and proposed strategic employment and energy uses in the wider area.
The RLDP should do more to assess and respond to the cumulative impacts of development affecting this corridor of the Vale, rather than considering sites in isolation. This includes impacts on landscape, traffic, tranquillity, and the everyday experience of residents and visitors.
4. Strategic Energy Development and Site Selection
I support renewable and low-carbon energy development in principle. However, the RLDP should make clear that such development must be directed to appropriate locations, with a strong preference for previously developed or industrial land. In this part of the Vale, the former Aberthaw Power Station site represents a logical location for energy-related uses, given its industrial character and existing infrastructure.
The Plan should avoid creating policy ambiguity that could be interpreted as support for large-scale energy infrastructure on greenfield land in sensitive coastal or rural locations, particularly within the setting of the Heritage Coast.
5. Infrastructure and Fairness to Host Communities
A key concern for residents of Gileston and St Athan is that strategic development brings limited direct benefit to local communities while generating long-term impacts. The RLDP places significant emphasis on growth and strategic infrastructure, but there is insufficient certainty that villages hosting or neighbouring such development will see meaningful improvements in connectivity or services.
In particular, the Plan should take a more proactive approach to safeguarding and planning for enhanced public transport connectivity in the Barry–Rhoose–Llantwit Major corridor. While the delivery of a new rail station serving St Athan and potentially Gileston would be a long-term and multi-agency undertaking, the RLDP could play a critical role by safeguarding land, identifying the corridor as a priority for future rail or rapid transit enhancement, and linking strategic development to long-term transport planning objectives.
Without such forward-looking infrastructure commitments, communities risk bearing the impacts of development without corresponding benefits.
6. Conclusion and Requested Changes
In its current form, I object to the Deposit RLDP insofar as it does not provide sufficient policy protection for the setting of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, nor does it adequately address cumulative impacts and infrastructure fairness for villages such as Gileston and St Athan.
I would urge the Council to strengthen the Plan by:
Explicitly protecting the setting of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast from inappropriate development
Directing strategic and energy-related development to brownfield and industrial sites wherever possible
Embedding a clearer, place-based approach to cumulative impacts
Committing to long-term transport and infrastructure planning, including safeguarding opportunities for improved rail or high-quality public transport serving St Athan and surrounding communities
Subject to these changes, the RLDP would provide a more balanced and sustainable framework that supports growth while respecting the unique environmental and community assets of this part of the Vale.
