Coed Darcy is a new village currently being developed adjacent to Llandarcy in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.
Historical background The village is being built on brownfield land vacated by a former oil refinery, the Llandarcy Oil Refinery, owned by BP. The oil refinery was the first crude oil refinery in the UK and was constructed between 1918 and 1922. The refinery produced diesel, kerosene and other products. During the post-war period, the refinery underwent large scale development as demand for products increased to 340,000 tonnes per year. Due to economic changes, it was announced in 1997 that the site would close.
Planning and construction The planned community will comprise 4,000 homes, community facilities, employment space and open space covering 1,300 acres. Four new schools (1 Welsh primary, 2 English primaries and 1 secondary) are planned.Part of the development proposals includes a new southern access road linking the village to the Fabian Way (A483) into Swansea.
The design specification was developed with input from The Prince's Foundation and the village will be developed as an urban village in a similar fashion the the Poundbury development, which is hoped will encourage people live and work in the same community. The development is expected to take 20 years to complete.
The name of the village was suggested by members of Coedffranc Community Council. The village takes its name from the local parish of Coedffranc and the neighbouring village of Llandarcy.
On 8th May 2007, it was announced that St. Modwen Properties was appointed as the preferred developer of the site. St. Modwen will lead the redevelopment and reclamation of the brownfield site, which is planned to take seven years. The remediation work involves removing contaminated material from the land which was deposited when the site was used as a refinery. The reclamation work involves removing the remanning unrequited oil refinery infrastructure such as pipe works, buildings and roads, including the draining of a large reservoir at the northern part of the site. The new infrastructure for the village and the construction of the homes is expected to take twenty years.
Work started on building the first 150 homes and 58 apartments, on 10.4 acres of the site, in June 2008 on a site at old refinery main entrance. The first properties, designed by Robert Adam Architects, are being developed by Edward Ware Homes and Atlantic Properties Plc with construction being carried out by Dawnus Construction.
Controversies The development of the village has not been devoid of controversy. The residents' association of the neighbouring village of Llandarcy are concerned that the new development does not swallow up Llandarcy. Concerns were expressed about some green belt land being used up in addition to the brownfield site by the village and the new access road to the Fabian Way. The Countryside Council for Wales is monitoring the development of the village.
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