PLANS to demolish the current buildings at the Hoover site in Merthyr Tydfil and build more than 400 homes there have been officially revealed.
Walters Land Limited has submitted an application for up to 441 homes on the site in Pentrebach which would also include a community hub with shops, financial and professional services, food and drink, business and non-residential institutions.
It would include employment land for business, industrial and storage and distribution uses as well as open spaces including active travel routes.
An area for what the application calls a potential community heat hub has also been identified and as part of the overall strategic plans within the replacement local development plan (RLDP) it would safeguard land and access for a metro station and a new park and ride facility but the station would not be delivered as part of this planning application.
The application says that the vacant, previously developed site is a key development site in the county borough and is a key regeneration opportunity.
It says that the site forms a key element of the 59 hectare Hoover Strategic Regeneration Area which is expected to contribute 20% of the total housing requirement of the revised local development plan (LDP).
This plan involves demolition of the current buildings as well as ground reclamation and remediation.
The former Hoover manufacturing plant opened in 1948 and employed up to 5,000 people at its peak manufacturing washing machines but production finished in 2009 after which it was used mainly as a warehouse and distribution centre.
In 2024, Hoover announced it would be withdrawing its remaining operations from the site.
The site for this application covers an area of almost 16 hectares with three separate land parcels including the former Hoover Candy factory site area, former car park and pump station.
The main site area is made up of the former Hoover Candy manufacturing plant including the manufacturing plant to the south and the assembly plant to the north with an access road to separate the two plant buildings.
The southern area of the site includes a disused bowling green, pavilion and cricket pitch.
In between the bowling green and Pentrebach station is an area of rough ground which is used for storage.
Another storage area is located to the north of the bowling green at the location of former tennis courts and a helipad is located on the northern edge of the cricket pitch.
A car park, former social club and gatehouse is located in between the cricket pitch and the Hoover manufacturing plant area.
A new storage building which was formerly a polystyrene plant lies to the west of the car park and the social club.
At this stage all matters apart from the main access are reserved for subsequent approval, the application says.
