Bridgend Town Centre Masterplan

The masterplan for Bridgend town centre outlines a vision for a liveable and vibrant community. It identifies a series of ambitious and deliverable projects for the next 10 years that will support future economic growth and secure more benefits and opportunities for the Bridgend County Borough.

The masterplan will be used as a planning tool to improve the town centre and will used to secure future funding to deliver identified projects.

Placemaking is a comprehensive approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. It capitalises on local assets, inspiration, and potential, with the intention of creating public spaces that promote people's health, happiness, and well-being.

A Placemaking Wales Charter has been developed by Welsh Government and the Design Commission for Wales in collaboration with the Placemaking Wales Partnership. The charter builds on the strengthening focus on Placemaking in policy and practice in Wales and aims to provide a common understanding of the range of considerations that go into placemaking.

More information on the Placemaking Charter.

It is important to remember that the Masterplan is just that, a plan that offers a starting point for the decision making process which will follow. No decisions will be made without full engagement and there will be extensive consultation undertaken with property and business owners. There are a number of empty buildings in the town centre which could be used to relocate any businesses that are in a property which is part of a proposal for redevelopment or demolition.

The masterplan process began just before the Covid-19 pandemic crisis which has gripped Wales, the UK and the world. To this end the masterplan has adapted and taken into account the need to be flexible, and includes an advisory note on addressing town centre development based on emerging national guidance on Covid-19 and prioritises projects to ensure the sustainable recovery and long-term development of the town centre.

This is a key time to plan for town centre recovery from the impact that Covid-19 has had and the masterplan identifies key town centre development sites that would allow for a planned approach to future development and inward investment to assist with this recovery.

The regeneration projects identified in the Bridgend Town Centre Masterplan will be implemented in various phases over the next 10 years. In order to take a planned to approach to delivery, an action plan has been developed to assist with formulating a project timeline, prioritising and planning projects and furthermore, identifying what resources or inputs are needed to do deliver individual projects.

The successful delivery of the masterplan will be dependent on an active partnership approach between key stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors. A strategic approach to project delivery will be taken, with BCBC acting as a key facilitator to bring together key project enablers to deliver projects that form part of the overall vision for the regeneration of the Bridgend town centre.

Funding applications will be made to number of funding bodies to deliver projects, some of which include:

• UK Government
• Welsh Government
• Cardiff Capital Region
• Private Investment
• And various other funders

The previous Bridgend Town Centre Masterplan which was adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) in 2011. It was based on retail-led regeneration and an overarching vision for the period up to 2020.

The overall vision was to ‘ensure that Bridgend town centre expands its retail offer and fulfils its potential as a thriving, vibrant and accessible market town’.

The new masterplan for the Bridgend town centre is regeneration focussed. It outlines a vision for a liveable and vibrant community. It identifies a series of ambitious and deliverable projects for the next ten years that will support future economic growth and secure more benefits and opportunities for Bridgend County Borough.

Two studies have been undertaken to date to look at vehicular movement in the Bridgend Town Centre. These include:

• Town Centre Access Study - Capita 2016

In January 2016 Capita undertook a study on behalf of BCBC to review methods and assess risks of increasing vehicular access to parts of Bridgend town centre. The report was prepared as town centre traders had reported significant reductions in footfall since the pedestrianisation scheme was completed in 2004. They claimed this had been exacerbated during the temporary closure of the Rhiw car park during its re-development in 2015/16.

The study assessed three scenarios:

• suspending the pedestrianisation at all times
• limiting the pedestrianisation period to between 11am and 3pm, and allow full vehicular access at all other times
• consideration of reversing the existing one way system on Wyndham Street and Caroline Street

As part of this study, the decision to either allow vehicles to enter the town during all times of the day or to restrict the times to those outside of the peak shopping times is key. Particularly given the level of investment made by the Council in public realm improvements in recent years.

Of the scenarios assessed by Capita, retaining the pedestrianised status during peak retail periods would make the shopping experience better for visitor during this period. This also allows for greater flexibility for diversification and intensification of the night time economy with the town. This would also help to limit potential impact of material failures by limiting loading periods.

• Town centre Access Scheme (2019)

BCBC commissioned WSP to undertake a study of the impact of reintroducing vehicle traffic to a section of Bridgend town centre, which is currently part of a Pedestrian Zone. The area considered as part of the study commences at the southern end of Queen Street, continues along Dunraven Place and Market Street up to the junction with Quarella Road.

It is proposed these roads remain one-way north bound to the Cenotaph and then one way eastbound to its junction with Quarella Road which is the current arrangement for loading only between the hours of 6pm and 10am.

The results of the study, based on safety and costs alone, recommend that Queen Street, Dunraven Place & Market Street remain a Pedestrian Zone and if vehicle traffic is reintroduced to the Study Area, BCBC would need to accept the risks to public safety that would be reintroduced.

Utilising the existing Police Station site as the location for educational uses, will act as a catalyst for town centre regeneration, increasing footfall and contributing to the creation of a mixed economy and demographic plus creating a hub in the area.

The masterplan has outlined that car parking within the study area of Bridgend town centre needs careful assessment. It is recommended that this forms the subject of a detailed study to ensure that sufficient car parking provision remains, and is provided in appropriate locations across the town centre.

The masterplan also identifies a number of development opportunity sites in the town, a number of which are currently occupied by either surface level or multi-storey car parks. In order to deliver future development on these sites, an approach of consolidation and redistribution is proposed to retain car parking in appropriate locations around the central core, with improved wayfinding and connecting routes.

However, Welsh Governments Technical Advice Note 18  Transport (TAN 18) supports the principle of car-free housing in locations with good walking, cycling and public transport links, and where parking is controlled. Reduced car parking, or car free development is considered suitable within the Bridgend town centre area.

Careful consideration of the need for the introduction of/amendment to existing on-street parking restrictions within the local area would need to be undertaken within Transport Assessment(s) supporting the proposals. For this reason, shared parking provision may provide an alternative solution. TAN 18 Transport also supports the idea of neighbouring or mixed-use developments sharing parking spaces.

For example the mixed-use redevelopment of the station area could support some shared parking provision between residential development and the railway station.

A Compulsory Purchase Order is when the Government, Councils or Utility Companies in certain circumstances have a Statutory Right to buy a property or take a right over it. In order to exercise such rights the body must meet set criteria as laid down by statute, in particular the authority must prove the purchase is in the public interest.

The Bridgend town centre masterplan has been produced to provide a strategic direction to the management of the town centre development over the next 10 years. It is an aspirational vision and is at consultation stage. When the project planning stage begins, this is when a Compulsory Purchase Order could potentially be carried out in order to take projects through to development stage.

Bridgend County Borough Council is committed to gathering a wide range of views from as many different people and businesses from across the borough.

Following the consultation, the findings will be shared with Cabinet and Council before decisions are made on the final masterplan.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks, starting on Monday 7th December. Following the consultation, all the results will be reviewed and if any changes need to be made, they will be done in the early part of 2021, with a final masterplan being completed during the summer of 2021.