New highways depot to free up land for major housing development

A brand new highways depot will be built by Bridgend County Borough Council at Waterton in Bridgend, freeing up land for a major housing development.

Last year, much of the council’s old dilapidated depot was demolished along with some other buildings at the same site, which can be found just off the A473.

The local authority has since split its depot-based operations between what remains at Waterton and a second depot in Bryncethin, while closing various other smaller depots elsewhere in the county borough.

At a meeting of Council on 21 November, Councillors agreed that a new modern facility is essential in order to provide highways services as effectively as possible.

However, the new depot will be smaller than had originally been planned in 2016, maximising the amount of land for sale to enable the Parc Afon Ewenni housing development to progress.

The money received from selling brownfield land for the housing development at Waterton will go towards the cost of the depot, so redeveloping a small depot on part of the current site represents the best use of the land and available resources under the current funding climate.

It will provide us with a modern, up to date depot facility that will be fit for meeting the needs of a 21st century highways fleet for many years to come.

The depot will cater for a wide range of highways maintenance vehicles that are essential for carrying out roadworks, street lighting, gritting and more. We will also be speaking to other public sector organisations to see if costs can be reduced by sharing the facility.

Councillor Richard Young, the council's Cabinet Member for Communities