River Tawe and City
Stalled plans to create a new riverside community from a Swansea wasteland have taken a step forward.
Developer Bellway Homes has submitted plans to build 103 houses and flats between the River Tawe and New Cut Road.
Another developer, Watkin Jones, said it planned to start work on a large student development at the same site this summer.
The Bellway plan, consisting of 58 homes and 45 flats in three and four-storey blocks, replaces a previous scheme by a different developer for up to 300 residential units, which had outline planning permission.
Experts said demand for houses rather than flats helped prompt the fresh set of plans.
Property consultant Savills, which has been involved in developing the 8.5 acre site — formerly owned by Unit Superheater Engineering — said it hoped work could start on the Bellway homes later this year.
If given the green light, the Bellway scheme will signal the first phase of a riverside walkway on the west bank of the River Tawe from the city centre up towards the Liberty Stadium.
Council chiefs are keen to lure developers to the area, and in March the authority gave approval for a new road effectively linking the stadium and New Cut Road.
It also granted permission for 52 three-storey houses and 84 flats in five-storey blocks at the Bernard Hastie site, off Morfa Road. Further development is proposed at the site of the old Hafod Copperworks, despite concerns from industrial heritage groups.
Andrew Cox, of Savills, said: "Bellway's decision to reduce the number of homes and concentrate on family housing rather than large apartment blocks will be hugely beneficial to the local area.
"These will be homes that are likely to be owneroccupied rather than rented out, which will encourage a greater sense of community.
"The reduction in residential units will also mean less traffic, which can only be good news for traffic flow in the city centre."
16th June, South Wales Evening Post
