Welsh council threatens legal action over developer delay in building community facilities

Vale of Glamorgan Council is mulling legal action against a consortium of developers it claims has delayed in delivering promised community facilities, despite building and selling properties at pace.

The Waterfront Consortium - made up of Persimmon Homes, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Homes - was granted planning permission to build 2,000 homes on Barry waterfront.

The legal threat comes just weeks after Harlow Council launched its own legal challenge against the trio of developers for failing to build facilities set out in a section 106 agreement.

In Barry, houses have been built out, but green spaces, parks and footpaths are still to be finished, whilst roads remain in a partially-completed state, the council says.

According to the council, several areas of public space at the waterfront, including children's play areas, need attention, as does land approved for a park, "which currently contains a mound of earth".

A green area designated in the planning permission is still to be created, while the standard of open space in other areas is poor, with inadequate planting and little maintenance, the council claims.

Glamorgan also noted that safety improvements needed to be made on a section of road before the council could take responsibility for it.

Cllr Lis Burnett, Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: "Time and again the Waterfront Consortium has made it clear that it has no interest in delivering the community components of this development.

"There has been a catalogue of broken promises and weak excuses for the lack of progress, yet, remarkably, these issues do not seem to be affecting the developers' house-building programme."

Cllr Burnett claimed that the consortium is "not only in breach of its legal obligations, but also local and national government polices around placemaking".

A spokesperson for the Barry Waterfront consortium said it had met with the leader and Chief Executive of the Vale of Glamorgan Council in June to discuss the outstanding areas at the Barry Waterfront and "reassure them of our commitment to deliver these facilities as quickly as possible"

The consortium added: "We have since devised and commenced a detailed programme of works, which has been shared in full with the Vale of Glamorgan Council. We will continue to work with the Vale of Glamorgan Council to complete these areas and the Barry Waterfront regeneration project to the highest standard."

The council has previously had to take action against the Waterfront Consortium to ensure a complex of shops, bars and restaurants. It also threatened legal action over a delay in building a new school as part of the development.

Adam Carey