Hedgerow Located Along Heol Cae'r Bont Heol Cae'r Bont Margam Neath Port Talbot SA13 2NS Data via plota.co.uk

P2026/0637 - Hedgerow Removal Awaiting decision

Proposal

Application for the removal of approximately 40 metres of hedgerow to facilitate the creation of a temporary construction access from Heol Cae'r Bont, within the fields incorporated by the BOC facility in connection with the installation of an underground cable route, in association with the Margam Substation upgrade. On completion of the development the hedgerow will be reinstated using a native mixed species planting scheme comprising species consistent with the existing hedgerow and surrounding landscape. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
1 Oct 2026
✓
Consultation
1 Oct 2026
Decision
Expected by 11 Nov 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision between 11 Nov 2026 and 23 Nov 2026, from recent other across the UK.

Comments are open until 15 Oct 2026

Comment on this application ↗

Site constraints 4

Coal mining development high risk area
Recorded coal mining features at or near the surface. Most planning applications here need a coal mining risk assessment.
From the Mining Remediation Authority, formerly the Coal Authority. The development high risk area marks recorded coal mining features at or near the surface: mine shafts and adits, shallow workings, mine gas and former opencast sites. Most planning applications there need a coal mining risk assessment; householder applications, changes of use and some minor works are exempt. Mine entry positions come from old plans and can be out by several metres, and unrecorded workings can exist anywhere in the coalfield.
Coal mining risk assessments ↗
Agricultural land, grade 3b
Not best and most versatile land (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Source: the Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map (Defra and Natural England, 2025; the Welsh Government's Predictive ALC Map 2 in Wales), a model rather than a site survey. A site survey can differ.
Where development of farmland is needed, policy prefers poorer land over the best and most versatile (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Three sources: Natural England's post-1988 field surveys, which are definitive where they exist; the Defra predictive map for England (2025) and the Welsh Government predictive map, modelled from the soil map with 3a and 3b split; and the 1970s provisional map, which planners and other services still show, coarser and with grade 3 undivided. Where the provisional and predicted grades disagree, treat the predicted grade as the current estimate and expect an application to carry its own survey.
National infrastructure project about 452 m away: Internal Power Generation Enhancement for Port Talbot Steelworks
The site is about 452 m from the project boundary. Generating station, decided. The project page says whether consent was granted.
Nationally significant infrastructure projects (power stations, electricity lines, pipelines, major roads and railways, harbours, airports and reservoirs) are consented by a Secretary of State under the Planning Act 2008, after an examination by the Planning Inspectorate, rather than by the council. The boundary is the one the Inspectorate consults on and can change as the scheme does. Projects are shown within 2 km of the site.
Planning Inspectorate project page ↗
Also on the record
SSSI about 498 m away: Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. The pin for this application is the centre of its postcode rather than the building, so distances to nearby designations are measured from the postcode and can be out by the width of the postcode area. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Mining Remediation Authority, the Planning Inspectorate and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Council
Neath
Application type
Hedgerow Removal
Postcode
SA13 2NS
Received
1 Oct 2026
Validated
1 Oct 2026
Case officer
Show
Target decision
11 Nov 2026
Applicant
Show
Agent
Laing O'Rourke

Decision outlook

Day 8 of the 56-day target. Councils usually decide other by day 48.

Day 848 days to the 56-day target
76%decided within 8 weeks
96%approved
1,642decided in the last year

Plota live figures for other decided across the UK in the last twelve months, from validation; too few recent other in Neath to go on. Neath decision record →

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 2 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-15264739
Planning Portal ref
PP-15264739
Consultation
1 Oct 2026
Comments by
15 Oct 2026
Statutory expiry
11 Nov 2026
Env. assessment
No