A resident is urging his neighbours to join a new group to campaign for community facilities on their estate.
New homes have been built in stages on the land between Pontnewydd and Sebastopol since 2017, and construction work is continuing to bring the total number of homes to around 1,200.
Earlier this year, planning permission was given for a new bridge over the canal that runs through the estate to create a ‘ring road’ to link the estate with Cwmbran.
Gareth Hill moved to Edlogan Wharf (South Sebastopol) in 2023. He has helped set up South Sebastopol Together, a private Facebook group, to help bring the local community together before any local facilities are finished.
A Tesco Express store opened last month. There are two vacant buildings next to the supermarket, but he says they have not been told how they will be used.
He told Cwmbran Life: “I think it began with the frustration of the lack of any facilities, nowhere for us to meet at all…It kind of morphed into this group called South Sebastopol Together, which really exists only on Facebook, and an attempt to get a meeting, but we can’t find anywhere local to meet because there’s nothing to meet at.
“The hope is to kind of encourage people to band together and to argue for a place for people to meet for coffee, for toddler groups, for funeral wakes, for celebrations, without having to go off the estate.
1,200-home estate
“At the end of the day, this will be a 1,200-home estate, so that’s 3,000 to 3,500 people, lots of young families, lots of babies, pre-school, so nowhere for them to meet up and kind of swap stories and encourage each other, and that’s very discouraging, I think.”
He said there was “deep frustration” over Tesco Express being the only commercial unit open on the estate.
“What I’m aware of for the two buildings next door [to Tesco Express] is we were told that there would be one building which would be a coffee shop/ restaurant, not a takeaway but a place for people to meet, and if it’s the larger of the two remaining buildings, that would be right by a grass area with the children’s playground so it’s perfectly sited and it sits right on the edge of the canal where boats can moor up as well so it would be a perfect spot for us.
“There’s a second, slightly smaller building. I don’t know what the planning designation is.
“I know folk have talked about whether it might be a hairdresser or something similar that makes the most of the space because it looks directly over the canal, so I’m not quite sure what there is, but I do know that Taylor Wimpey has passed responsibility for negotiating leases to a management company.
“None of us knows who that is, and we can’t find out, and they won’t tell us, so we don’t know whether they are opening imminently or whether we’re waiting another year or more.”
Football and rugby pitch
Taylor Wimpey also has to build a football pitch and a rugby pitch as part of the planning permission deal.
Gareth said: “There’ll be two pitches, one for rugby and one for football, changing rooms and some parking, so it would be great when it’s there. They’ve always said this will be the last development on the estate so we’re not expecting that any time soon. I think it’s slated for autumn 2027 at the earliest, but it could well dribble on beyond that.”
He also said the estate is due to have an allotment site but is worried about stories he’s seen from other new housing estates where they never materialise.
Gareth said: “Talking to people who garden and have allotments, they testified how important it is for their mental well-being to have a place that they can go and grow their own and share the produce with neighbours so we really hope it stays because it feels as though it might be an area where we can capitalise and get together a little bit.”
Gareth said he loves living on the estate but the “missing element” is a place for people to “gather”, adding: “They want to be able to just ring their friend and say, ‘Shall we have coffee down at the village core?’ Meet new friends, find parents whose children are going through the same things that your children are going through and so on…It is for any part of a community that wants to sit with others who are like them and at the moment we’re denied that. I think the greatest unhappiness is around the simple lack of communication.
‘Community centre’
“Taylor Wimpey have indicated that they might be prepared to consider a grant of some land to the community so that we could fund our own community centre but despite two or three false starts, we still haven’t had that walk around and are still waiting for a commitment.
“But it’s on an even more basic level, we get a letter, for example if they’re going to have to close part of the road because they’ve got to re-tarmac it or they’re going to fix up one of the junctions, but that’s because they’re required to do that, and you need to give us notice.
‘Community champion’
“But there is no community champion within Taylor Wimpey, who would be known in the area and say, ‘Can I tell you this, can I update you?’ There is nothing like that and I suspect that’s because big building companies aren’t that bothered about it.
“Their role they say is to build the structures and sell them. I think we would argue that their role is to help us as people who bought their properties to build a community within the space.”
Taylor Wimpey made a financial contribution to the cost of building the new Maendy Way Primary School that opened in June 2025.
Response from Taylor Wimpey
A Taylor Wimpey spokesperson said: “We are proud of the new community that is continuing to grow at Edlogan Wharf. Alongside the delivery of 1,200 much-needed new homes in Cwmbran, residents already benefit from significant areas of open space, including dedicated play areas that provide safe and welcoming places for children.
“We are continuing to work closely with the local authority and the Allotment Association to progress the further community facilities planned for the development, including sports pitches, changing rooms and allotments.”