Its impact on nearby road junctions is a worry for local residents
This large industrial building at Penllergaer Business Park, Swansea, will be demolished and replaced with a large distribution centre (Image: Richard Youle )
The developers of a large new distribution centre near the M4 in Swansea will need to pay more £1.3m in road improvement and other contributions as part of planning consent.
The council’s planning committee granted Stoford Properties Ltd approval to knock down empty industrial buildings at Penllergaer Business Park, Penllergaer, and construct a 151m by 73m warehouse with solar panels on top, a 153m by 70m double-level car park for delivery vans, plus another car park and some smaller buildings on the 11-hectare site.
It lies off the A48, which runs parallel to the nearby M4, with the motorway accessible at junction 47 to the west and junction 46 to the east. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here.
A planning report before the committee said £790,000 would need to be provided to mitigate extra traffic created at junction 47 plus bus stop upgrades of £50,000, A48 crossing improvements worth £40,000, a speed limit reduction on the A48 from 50mph to 40mph costing £25,000, and £16,000 to cover traffic regulation orders and new signs.
A further £390,593 will need to be contributed to improve three nearby grassland sites as a biodiversity mitigation measure.
The distribution centre will have 899 van parking bays, a car park with 221 spaces, HGV bays, plus 36 bike and 28 motorcycle spaces. Some trees would need to be cut down and 113 new ones are be planted.
The plan led to 24 objections including one from Penllergaer Community Council. Uppermost among the concerns was the scheme’s likely impact on junction 47 of the M4 given its capacity and the amount of existing traffic. Penllergaer councillor Tony Fitzgerald’s objection said the application should be refused on this basis.
The council’s highways department had initially recommended refusal but changed its position after more information including modelling was submitted by the applicant in tandem with proposed planning conditions and a requirement for the highway contributions.
“These measures are essential to secure the off-site improvements and detailed design work needed to mitigate the development’s impacts and to ensure the surrounding highway network can operate safely and effectively once the distribution centre becomes operational,” said the report.
Committee members pressed planning and highways officers on how the business would operate and the likely road impacts, particularly at junction 47 where the A48 joins the motorway junction with no traffic lights.
A highways officer said the department was satisfied the modelling work was “accurate and robust” and represented “a worst-case scenario”.
He said the timings of other traffic lights at junction 47 would be reviewed once the distribution centre was up and running.
A planning officer said the council understood the facility would be a 24-hour operation.
An agent on behalf of the applicant said the site had been vacant for two years, there were no outstanding objections from statutory consultees, and the development was “expected to create a significant number of jobs in a range of roles”.
Cllr Philip Downing, concerned about the impact of HGVs waiting to join the junction 47 roundabout from the A48, said the scheme “does not fill me with confidence”. He abstained in the vote. There were nine votes in support and one against.
There is already a large distribution depot around a mile north-west of the site at Parc Felindre north of the M4.
