SGP celebrates RTPI Cymru win for brownfield transformation at Glan Llyn, Newport

A truly inspirational collaborative project with placemaking at its heart, providing its own sense of place and identity. RTPI Cymru judges’ presentation

St. Modwen’s, designed by SGP, Glan Llyn masterplan has been hailed by planners for its commitment to sustainability and placemaking, having been chosen as winner in the RTPI Cymru Awards for Planning Excellence 2020.

Approved by Newport Council in February 2020, Glan Llyn Eastern Sub-Area masterplan is a 600 acre brownfield redevelopment which will transform part of the Llanwern steelworks site into a new neighbourhood for Newport, Wales.

On one of the largest brownfield redevelopment sites in the UK, the Eastern Sub-Area Masterplan unlocks the regeneration of over half the area at Glan Llyn and will provide a number of local facilities which aim to bring residents together and reinforce the feeling of community. Sitting in a new green and blue grid of open space, lakes and water, the transformed area will include approximately 2700 new homes, a second primary school with sports pitches, and a leisure hub. A local centre will contain retail, community and health facilities for residents and the wider community.

Explains Ian Yallop, Chairman at SGP: “We’ve been working on the Glan Llyn project for 13 years and our aim has always been to transform one of Wales’ largest areas of previously developed land into a vibrant community which is a cornerstone of the Council’s Local Development Plan. The core vision is to deliver a sustainable new neighbourhood set within an extensive and imaginatively designed environment, which includes a mixture of green corridors, parks and lakes.”

The masterplan not only tackles the legacy of past industrial uses, it also introduces a comprehensive Sustainable Urban Drainage Scheme (SuDS) which incorporates greenways, blueways and lakes to manage flood risk, as well as creating a high quality environment for recreation, enjoyment and enhanced biodiversity across the site.

The remediation strategy drove much of the masterplan by identifying green and blue waterways, and the significant biodiversity enhancement opportunities realised through SuDS and the landscape strategy. By overcoming the significant coastal and fluvial flooding challenges, a haven for wildlife will be created in this urban environment. RTPI Cymru judges’ presentation

Concludes Ian: “The Eastern Sub-Area Masterplan acts as a manual for developers considering schemes on the site and as a tool against which the planning authority can measure future proposals. It aims to strike the right balance between the need for schemes to comply to an overall vision and quality benchmark, whilst providing the flexibility for individual developers to deliver variety and respond to specific challenges and opportunities to create real placemaking.”

Working closely with the developer,  St. Modwen Developments Limited, Newport City Council and Newport Unlimited (the City’s Urban Regeneration Company), the plan includes the redevelopment of the whole site, which was granted outline planning permission in 2010. The design envisaged a comprehensive regeneration, delivering a new neighbourhood of 4000 new homes, a new local centre, and two primary schools, plus a business park (known as the Celtic Business Park) which could accommodate up to 100,000 square metres (1 million square feet) of new employment space.

The Glan Llyn Eastern Sub-Area masterplan will be automatically put forward for the RTPI National Awards for Planning Excellence in 2021.