Resident concerns put to Waterfront Consortium
Vale of Glamorgan Council Leader Lis Burnett and Chief Executive Rob Thomas put the frustrations of more than 100 Barry Waterfront residents to the companies responsible for a delay in delivering their community facilities at a meeting this morning.
That followed a well-attended meeting with those living in the area on Monday, in which Cllr Burnett, Mr Thomas and other senior members of Council staff discussed significant problems with the housing development there.
Last month, the Council announced that it was considering legal action against the Waterfront Consortium, made up of national housebuilders Persimmon Homes, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Homes, over these issues.
Since then, work to serve the consortium with an injunction has begun, which will prevent the sale of any more houses until they are addressed.
Currently, though new properties continue to be built and sold at a rapid rate, very little progress has been made on the likes of green spaces and parks, whilst roads remain in a partially completed state.
Several areas of public space at the waterfront, including children’s play areas, need attention, as does land approved for a park at East Quay, which currently contains a mound of earth.
A green area at the Cliff Top, near Barry Island Primary School, is still to be created, while the standard of open space in other areas is poor, with inadequate planting and little maintenance.
Safety improvements also need to be made on a section of road along Ffordd Y Millennium before the Council can take responsibility for it.
At a packed meeting in Academy Espresso Bar, residents raised concerns about these matters and others, including the substandard pathways, pavements, parks and open spaces, drainage problems, the lack of commercial and community facilities in the District Centre and the lack of day-to-day maintenance of areas of the site in the ownership of the consortium.
These points were made to the consortium at a meeting on Wednesday as the Council looks to drive significant progress following an unacceptable and continuing period of delay.
Cllr Burnett said: “It was great to meet so many waterfront residents the other night and hear first-hand the difficulties they are facing.
“We share those frustrations and put them to the Waterfront Consortium in the strongest possible terms.
“During that meeting there was a frank exchange of views, with the feelings of residents made clear to key figures from the consortium.
“The Council has lost all patience with this group of developers after a string of broken promises and what appears to be complete indifference towards providing the community facilities they are responsible for.
“I hope now the message is finally getting through. We will be closely monitoring the situation at the waterfront to see if this is the case and remain committed to delivering the development that residents deserve.
“Legal proceedings are continuing which we hope will prevent any more houses being sold until the consortium fulfils its obligations.
“Currently, Persimmon, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey are in breach of legal agreements as well as local and national government polices around placemaking.
“This is a situation we absolutely will not accept. As a Council, we will do everything in our power to hold developers to account and make sure they keep their promises.”
A spokesperson for the Waterfront Consortium said: “The consortium was not involved with the public meeting and any proposed legal action is the decision of the Vale of Glamorgan Council.
“We remain committed to working alongside the council to complete the Barry Waterfront regeneration project to the highest standard, as quickly as possible.
“We will continue to deliver this detailed programme of works — which has already been shared with the council and residents — and will provide regular progress updates to all parties involved via weekly updates and fortnightly meetings with the council.”
The Council has previously had to take action against the Waterfront Consortium to ensure the District Centre was built, while the new St Baruc school was completed only after the Council threatened legal proceedings.