Barry Waterfront Regeneration

I’m sure this is the first of many posts on the future development of the waterfront in Barry.

So 41 hectares of land at the former Barry docklands have been sold to a consortium of developers including housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon Homes and Barratt Homes.
The consortium’s development proposals, which will form the bulk of a planning application include 2,000 new homes, of which 400 will be for social housing, a hotel, restaurants, retail outlets and possibly a cinema. The consortium indicate that the development will be constructed to the highest environmental standards and promise extensive community consultation.

Great news I say.

However, we must remember that this is an early proposal and detailed plans will have to be drawn up and approved by the council before any development can take place. Personally I have reservations concerning the extent of the development and what will eventually be built.

There is no doubt that the recent redevelopment at Barry Docks has certainly improved the area immensly. It is good to see new higher density housing developments and retail facilities which have brought an added dimention to the town. The new Morrisons supermarket has been a great success and is proving to be an important meeting place for many Barry residents. It is true that this new store has had a detrimental effect upon some of the older more established retail businesses such as the loss of Press’s the fishmonger from Island Road, however, Morrisons in particular has been instrumental in forging a bond between the new development and the existing town. It could so easily have been the other way around without Morrisons the new development could have been just another addendum to the town - physically part of it but socially and emotionally detatched. This hasn’t been helped by the continuing failure to build the promised pedestrian link from the bottom of Thompson Street across the railway to the new development.
With the new proposals it will be very important to encourage the consortium to develop a mixed use development rather than just the profitable residential units. Strong planning measures and enforcement should be in place to make sure that the new development includes early construction of the promised social facilities with particular emphasis on the quality of the built environment and public spaces.

Having spent many years with the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation I have learnt that consideration and quality should be the hallmarks of this new frontier for Barry. Important ’seed’ developments should be built which will attract more people to the waterfront and to bring it to life. The new ‘gateway’ to Barry Island should be a celebration for uniting the town with its seaside sibling. If it is just another residential development it will have no relationship with the rest of the town.

There is an opportunity now to promote the town once again - let it be the boomtown of the twenty first century as much as it was the boomtown of the early twentieth century.

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