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We have condemned Swansea planners’ recommendation to approve the Skyline’s development on Kilvey Hill. On Tuesday (4 March) the planning committee will decide the fate of this unique area.
Photograph of a rally on Kilvey Hill, 24 March 2024. Photo: Open Spaces Society
The development would comprise, among other structures, gondola stations and chairlift infrastructure for 22 cable cars, a restaurant and bar, a vast area of high-speed luge tracks, a 50-metre-high skyswing, zipline, and ancillary buildings. The ‘Activity Zone’ would cover the hilltop and beyond, by the developers’ own admission urbanising and commercialising an area of countryside.
In the 136-page report to the committee the planning officer recognises the ‘significant harm arising from landscape and visual impacts’ of the scheme, due to ‘the high sensitivity of the landscape and the changes as a result of the introduction of man-made structures on Kilvey Hill’, but the officer concludes that these are outweighed by the alleged ‘cumulative benefits’. There were 545 objections to the planning application and only 40 letters of support.
Says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary: ‘We are dismayed that Swansea Council is forging ahead in the face of so many objections. It knows that the development will destroy the unique countryside of Kilvey Hill, so loved by the community, yet it proposes to trash it with an ugly megadevelopment.
‘To achieve this, it must dispose of an area of open space under section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 and this requires a special procedure. The council made an in-principle decision to dispose of the open space in April last year, despite receiving 265 objections and only two in favour, but agrees that this was flawed. To avoid legal proceedings, it must now readvertise the proposed disposal with all the details, and consider afresh the consultees’ responses before taking a final decision. That is essential to the development, and could provide a significant hurdle to it.
‘Moreover, the officer’s report severely underplays the negative impact the development would have on public rights of way and other paths which people use to enjoy free informal recreation in the hill’s natural landscape. The report acknowledges that the hillside is well used, and that it is criss-crossed with paths and open access land where people roam freely, enjoying the quiet open country and fine views which would be severely impaired by the development. It does not acknowledge that some of the existing informal paths cross the proposed development site.
‘This hillside is a unique asset for Swansea as relatively unspoilt countryside on the doorstep of the city centre. It serves a wide variety of people, both Swansea residents and visitors to the city. It is a vital resource for the surrounding communities which would otherwise be deprived of open spaces and free-recreation opportunities, and much loved by residents of both East and West Swansea who are attracted to the peaceful wild landscape to walk dogs, ride bikes and horses, enjoy nature, picnic, and play with their children.
‘We dispute the officer’s assertion that Skyline will take up only 9% of Kilvey Hill. It will engulf closer to 37% of the publicly accessible land, and with its visual impact and level of noise it will affect all the land around the proposed site.
‘We strongly urge the planning committee to reject this outrageous application,’ Kate concludes.
The application is number 2023/1748/FUL. The report to committee can be found here (agenda reports pack, pages 16-152).