Seattle friends: let City Council know we need more affordable housing within a five-minute walk of transit, and density bonuses for energy-efficient and green housing! This is our chance to get it right.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-city-council-support-the-ccc-priorities-in-the-comp-plan
TOWNHILL: Social housing developer plans 27 affordable homes on derelict nursery site
A derelict plot in Townhill — one of Wales’s oldest council-built communities — could be about to get a new lease of life, with plans lodged for 27 affordable apartments on land that has sat empty since the demolition of a nursery school more than a decade ago.
The proposal, submitted by Swansea planning agents Asbri Planning, would see the former Bryn Nursery School site at the junction of Townhill Road and Tower Gardens transformed into a 100% affordable housing development — every home ring-fenced for people who cannot afford to buy or rent on the open market.
Artist’s impression of the proposed apartmentsBehind the scheme is Castell Group, a Swansea Vale-based developer that specialises in affordable and social housing across south Wales, working with registered social landlords including Caredig and Hafod.
The site has a long and frustrated planning history. Bryn Nursery School closed in 2005 and was demolished around 2011, leaving a vacant brownfield plot on one of Townhill’s main roads. Earlier proposals for a 58-bed care home were approved but never built. In 2021, budget supermarket chain Heron Foods — owned by B&M — twice applied to build a small express-format store on the site, only for both applications to be refused by Swansea Council on retail and highway grounds. The land has remained empty ever since.
The development would sit in a neighbourhood with a particular place in Welsh housing history. Townhill — built on the hillside above the city from the 1920s onwards — was one of the first purpose-built council communities in Wales, planned to provide decent homes for Swansea’s working-class population at a time when much of the city’s housing was overcrowded and inadequate. A century on, the demand for affordable homes here hasn’t gone away.
The proposed development would comprise 17 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom apartments across several two and three storey brick-built blocks with pitched roofs, in keeping with the surrounding streets. The site — currently overgrown scrubland that has regenerated since the old nursery came down — is just 150 metres from Townhill’s local centre, within walking distance of shops, a pharmacy, a library and a primary school, and close to bus services into Swansea city centre and Morriston Hospital.
Tower Gardens with the development site on the right (Image: Google Maps)The scheme has already been through informal discussions with Swansea Council, which confirmed that the principle of residential development here was acceptable. The original proposal was for 33 units, but this was reduced to 27 following council feedback about the site’s proximity to Tower Court — a supported independent living scheme for older residents next door. A flat roof design was also rejected by planners who noted that the surrounding area is entirely pitched-roof in character.
The plans include 22 parking spaces, secure cycle storage, extensive landscaping and tree planting, sustainable urban drainage, solar panels and electric vehicle charging points.
The public consultation runs until 24 April 2026.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
Plans submitted for new Townhill budget supermarket
Heron Foods submitted plans for an express-format B&M store on the former Bryn Nursery School site in 2021 — both applications were refused.
More Townhill news from Swansea Bay News
The latest news and features from the Townhill area.
L’accordo tra la Banca Europea per gli Investimenti e il Comune di Firenze, firmato pochi giorni fa, segue una tendenza che attraversa l’intera politica abitativa europea e italiana: la progressiva trasformazione del diritto alla casa in un prodotto finanziario. Per capire cosa sta accadendo a Firenze, bisogna però partire dall’inizio. La Banca Europea per gli … L’accordo BEI-Comune di Firenze e l’erosione dell’edilizia residenziale pubblica Leggi altro »
London is getting its first new town centre in 50 years — but at what cost?
A specific example: A family member came to visit and even extended their stay a few days specifically to make my kitchen #accessible, as in #functional, for me.
As mentioned, the kitchen has been my 'nerve-centre' for dealing with much of these past few years' cascade of #emergency issues that have been particularly hard on folks like me with no #HeatTolerance and also bonus #LungProblems during #ExtremeHeat and also #Wildfire events.
Much of its floorspace was filled with the strata of attending to and doing my best to mitigate these urgent problems, even those that relate to #lease restrictions and #SocialHousing not choosing to upgrade units to meet this new reality.
In many ways, this was not a big deal for me: I don't feel safe using the stove/oven (#balance and #tremour issues). My #arthritis doesn't handle preparing cold meat for microwave or toaster-oven cooking, so I eat frozen meals and graze from various pre-prepped options such as crackers.
20/x
The catch is this: at some point, a contractor for #SocialHousing had been sent to fix something.
That person saw my strata and other unit chaos--again caused or at least *strongly* influenced by multi-years' worth of environmental issues that the landlord is NOT mitigating (notably: extreme heat and access to clear air for venting built-up heat)--and reported it to the landlord.
The landlord in turn requested that I consider contacting the Hoarding Disorder Foundation of Alberta to work at reducing the amount of stuff I have in my unit.
12/x
In light of the above--a combination of increasing environmental stressors that negatively affect my #disability management and day-to-day functionality against a background of ongoing pandemic--it should come as no surprise that my #SocialHousing unit is presently the very opposite of tidy.
Annual stretches of multi-month #physical non-functionality from #ExtremeHeat (and also often terrible #AirQuality) make it tough to keep up with all but the most basic tasks.
And for many #disabled folks, our disablities, chronic #MedicalConditions, necessary #medications, and so forth may already have made "keeping up with the basics" pretty challenging in the best of times.
And these are NOT the best of times. Not by a long shot.
7/x
An intetesting peculiarity of living in #SocialHousing is that we are explicitly banned from having window-based #AC in our units.
While I live in #Alberta, my understanding is that this ban is found throughout social housing #leases in #Canada.
Granted, the writing style and language choices strongly suggest such leases were drafted in the early 1970s at the latest, and back then I would have easily agreed that #AirConditioning would not be necessary.
However, 50-some years on, the heat is routinely a bajillion (estimated 😛) degrees higher and #disabled folks and others in social housing are BANNED* from installing what is literally life-saving equipment under the 'new normal' of our #FireSeason summers.
*TBC: portable AC units are not explicitly banned (not commercially-available yet when the leases were written??? 🤔) but these have limited range and are usually energy-inefficient compared to modern AC window units
6/x
SWANSEA: 186 homes planned for Penplas – including derelict supermarket site
Plans have been unveiled to build 186 new homes on land in Penplas that has stood derelict for nearly three decades.
The proposals focus on three sites off Milford Way — including the former Leo’s superstore, which has remained vacant since it was demolished in the mid-1990s.
Developers say the scheme could finally bring the long-neglected land back into use, delivering new housing for local families and first-time buyers.
Map showing the three proposed housing sites off Milford Way in Penplas, including the long-derelict former Leo’s supermarket siteThe plans have been submitted to Swansea Council for pre-application consideration by housing association Codi (previously known as Pobl), working in partnership with building firm Morganstone and the local authority.
If approved, the development would form a key part of wider efforts to regenerate the Penderi area, which covers Blaenymaes, Portmead, Penplas and Cadle.
The move comes amid growing demand for housing in Swansea, particularly in established communities where younger generations are struggling to stay close to family.
Local resident Dylan Jones said the plans could help keep communities together.
He said: “New houses are very much needed in this area. People who grow up here naturally want to live near to their parents and friends when they start their own families.”
He added: “We are a proud community, who always look out for each other, and these proposals look like they will also enable those who may want to downsize from family homes as they get older.”
The new homes are expected to be modern and energy efficient, with developers promising lower energy bills and environmentally friendly design.
Plans also include improved green spaces and better links between different parts of the neighbourhood, reflecting feedback from local residents.
The development builds on wider regeneration work already underway in Penderi, including the launch of a major masterplan aimed at transforming the area, as previously reported when a long-term vision for the community was unveiled.
It also follows significant investment in existing homes, including a groundbreaking energy retrofit scheme that has seen hundreds of properties fitted with solar panels to cut costs and carbon emissions — part of what we reported as the UK’s largest project of its kind.
Homes in Penderi fitted with solar panels as part of a major energy retrofit scheme already underway in the areaCodi says the latest proposals are another step in a long-term commitment to the area, where it has been a landlord for more than 30 years.
Development director Claire Tristham said the plans are about more than just housing.
She said: “These proposals add another step in delivering high-quality, energy-efficient homes providing comfortable, affordable homes.”
She added: “Regeneration here isn’t short term — it’s a long-term commitment to people, place and opportunity.”
The scheme is still at an early stage, with further consultation expected before any formal planning application is submitted.
But for many in Penplas, the prospect of finally seeing the long-empty supermarket site brought back to life could mark a turning point for the area.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
Masterplan launched to transform a Swansea community
The wider vision behind regeneration plans in Penderi.
Contract awarded for largest UK energy retrofit of its kind in Penderi
Major investment has already upgraded hundreds of existing homes in the area.
UK’s largest energy retrofit scheme reaches milestone in Swansea community
Ongoing work to cut energy bills and emissions for local residents.
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