Reasons to object to the Ty-Du development
Existing vacant light industry floor space
The existing vacant floor space throughout Caerphilly County Borough Council for light industry is as follows:
- 119 units.
- 44 office units.
This begs the question - why desecrate 47 acres of a green field site
to house 15 new units? There are a large number of units and office
units standing empty that could be occupied tomorrow.
Traffic congestion
The construction of the buildings will cause a significant increase in
traffic congestion as large construction trucks will have to travel to
and from the site, sometimes passing through Nelson. In addition if the
business park is occupied (which is unlikely due to reasons already
given) it would give rise to an increase in traffic with workers
travelling to and from the business park, again passing through the
centre of Nelson. The roads in Nelson and the roads leading out of
Nelson are narrow country roads that cannot cope with large amounts of
traffic.
Ty-Du development will contain large lake
The proposed Ty-Du site will contain a "water balancing area", (Dry
Swale) measuring 2.6 acres. The site allocated is actually 2.7 acres,
in case of a necessity to enlarge the capacity. 2.6 acres equates to
the size of 2.5 football pitches. The water will be of a depth of 12
inches. This gives a holding capacity of 2.5 million litres, or 600,000
gallons. There will be lifebelts surrounding this lake. The lake will
be adjacent to the Somerfield Stores alongside their water culvert, and
also next to the A472. This area currently floods regularly during
heavy rainfall. The impact of heavy rainfall on 600,000 gallons of
standing water will cause severe flooding in the area. This area on the
plan is called; "a leisure and wildlife reserve."
Air quality
No one can accurately predict the impact of such a development will
have on air quality. The report itself describes the potential emission
of contaminated dust from the landfill site during construction as
"uncertain". Also, exhaust fumes from additional traffic; airborne
pollutants from the buildings themselves and the disruption during
development will almost certainly have an adverse effect on air
quality. This is of particular concern as residential home for the
elderly and an infant's school is close to the site. These members of
the community are vulnerable in terms of health and should be protected.
Water quality of streams
If the nature and use of this area changes, pollutants released from
the buildings themselves and as a result of disruption of landfill may
eventually find their way into neighboring streams. The effects of this
on aquatic life forms could be very detrimental. There is also a
possibility that the attenuation features put in place may themselves
become affected and may not provide adequate buffers. The environmental
impact on the area will be significant.
Sewage
Our antiquated sewage system is already overloaded, resulting in rising sewage. This has significant health implications.
Environmental impact
A report has described the site as having areas that have "high value
and low tolerance to change". This means the environmental impact of
development on the area is high. Natural habitats will be lost, and the
flora and fauna of retained habitats detrimentally affected. Population
dynamics are such that disruption of a habitat and its species can have
serious long-term effects on significant species higher up the food
chain.
Destruction of a site of natural beauty
The site at Ty-Du has been described as; "A site within an overall
landscape of undulating fields interspersed with small woodlands,
hedgerows and farms". Caerphilly Council intends to replace this with
"A developed urban site with building and illumination". It is
ludicrous that anyone would desecrate an area of beauty under the
premise of social benefit. The people of Nelson consider living in an
area surrounded by countryside a social benefit.
Rare breed of bat nests in the Ty-Du site
The Nelson Action Group has discovered that the existing survey of a
rare breed of bat nesting in the Ty-Du site is out of date. It has
therefore been requested that the Welsh Assembly Government carry out a
new survey. This has been agreed by Caerphilly County Borough Council.
The Nelson Action Group is in the process of arranging an independent
survey.
Global warming
At a time when environmental issues are at the center of political
debate, councils should be making a proactive commitment to reducing
carbon emissions that result in global warming. Removing vast areas of
plant life and replacing them with buildings will actually increase
carbon emissions. Thefore, this development plan appears to be in
direct conflict with the ethos of central government and the present
global ethos.
Ty-Du construction will damage historical sites
The Welsh Assembly Government environmental statement tells us under
the value of heritage; "Three cultural heritage features have been
identified within the site and its vicinity, all of local importance."
Two of these, historic hedgerows and the line of the former tramway lie
within the site, the third - four nineteenth century buildings lie
outside the site. The former tramway line is the subject of a "Claimed
right of way". The development will remove stretches of the hedgerows
depicted on the Llanfabon title map of 1842, and parts of the line of
the former 20th century tramway will be affected.
The four nineteenth century buildings lying outside the site are
actually three now, the missing one being the now demolished Mount Zion
Welsh chapel that stood at the bottom of Caerphilly Road. The three
remaining are:
- Penbeili Cottage - a post-medieval house.
- Ebenezer Welsh Methodist Chapel - now Bethel Evangelic Chapel in Heol
Fawr. Ebenezer was built in 1796, modified in 1831 and 1874, and is
also post-medieval.
- Calfaria Baptist Chapel built 1878, and also a post-medieval building.
Conclusion
The only argument for placing a Business Park at Ty-Du is that it would
improve socio-economic conditions. These improvements can be achieved
by developing more appropriate sites within the borough I.E. sites
where the infrastructure for industry already exits and where the cost
incurred in terms of environmental impact, quality of life and
resources required are fewer.