New car park proposed for Cowbridge town centre
A new car park and temporary events space could be built in the centre of Cowbridge if plans by the Vale of Glamorgan Council are agreed next week.
£65,000 will be made available to fund site surveys and feasibility work over the course of the next year, if a report being presented to the Council’s cabinet on 29 July is agreed.
“The Charter Trust’s work to restore the town wall is really changing the feel of this part of the town and gives us a real opportunity to establish a focal point for visitors. This is what the car park and event space would provide.
“The lack of town centre parking has long been an issue in Cowbridge. Plans are already in place to lay a temporary stone surface to provide parking alongside the town wall. There is, however, an opportunity to go further and give Cowbridge the infrastructure it needs to be a first-class destination for shoppers and tourists.
“Our new proposal is to do this by also making use of the land currently used by the livestock market for parking. This will be done in a way that respects the site’s historic location with the conservation area and complements the Trust’s Old Hall Gardens project.” - Cllr Lis Burnett, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration.
A new car park would be subject to a feasibility study to determine the viability and number of spaces needed, this will be done alongside the current review of the Council’s parking strategy for the Vale. Local residents and town centre trades will all have the opportunity to share their views as part of this process.
As well as spaces for cars and a drop-off area for buses and coaches, cycling racks and other active travel facilities would feature prominently in any design.
These plans do not affect the work by the Cowbridge Charter Trust that is already successfully underway to reveal the historic town wall adjacent to the market by demolishing unused cattle pens.
This work has been partly funded by the Council’s Strong Communities Grant Fund.
The Council has been working to find a new use for the land on which the livestock market currently operates since 2017. It had previously been proposed that the land be sold for development, with some provision for car parking being made.
The licence given to operate the market will now not be extended beyond its current end date of March 2020.
The Council has already begun work with interested parties to help in the possible establishment of a new market in a more suitable and accessible location to serve farmers from across the region.