Steel buildings in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Rhondda Cynon Taf is the Rhondda, Cynon and Taff valleys: steep sides, hill farms, horses and smallholdings above the terraces, and business land on the valley floors, with gentler farmland in the south around Llantrisant. The far north reaches into the National Park. Most of the borough is coalfield, much of it with a long history of shallow working and old tips, so this is an area where the mining risk map and a ground investigation are part of pricing the job, not an afterthought.
Buildings designed, supplied and erected by South West Steel Buildings across Rhondda Cynon Taf, including Pontypridd, Aberdare, Treorchy, Tonypandy, Llantrisant, Mountain Ash and Hirwaun.
- Planning authority
- Council and Park
- Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, or the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority inside the Park.
- Protected landscape
- Yes, in part
- Bannau Brycheiniog National Park
- On the coalfield
- Mostly
- Check the site on the mining map.
- Drainage approval
- The council
- Needed at 100 m² or more.
What to check first in Rhondda Cynon Taf
In the valleys, start with the mining map and with any old tips nearby; both are ground questions that come before design. Steep sides mean platform earthworks and careful access. In the far north above Hirwaun, check the National Park boundary. In the south around Llantrisant the land is gentler and the questions are more like the Vale's.
Planning in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Most of Rhondda Cynon Taf comes under Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. The part inside Bannau Brycheiniog National Park — the far north, above Hirwaun and the Cynon valley — comes under the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority instead, which is the planning authority there and looks closely at the siting and appearance of any new building.
The rules themselves are Welsh, not English — 465 m² on 5 hectares or more, a 28-day notice, no Class Q — and are set out in our planning guide for farm buildings in Wales.
Garden buildings. Rhondda Cynon Taf includes protected land — Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. There, a garage or workshop at a house more than 20 m from it is limited to 10 m² under permitted development, and nothing may go beside the house. See garages and workshops.
The ground, and the coal
Rhondda Cynon Taf: Most of it sits on the South Wales coalfield, so old shallow workings and mine entries are a real foundation question — check the site on the mining authority’s map before anything is designed.
In the Mining Remediation Authority's Development High Risk Area, most planning applications need a Coal Mining Risk Assessment, and the pads may need a ground investigation first. The authority's guidance explains how to check a site.
The groundworks calculator works out the base for your own slope.
Drainage approval in Rhondda Cynon Taf
At 100 m² or more, drainage needs SuDS Approval Body approval first — for Rhondda Cynon Taf, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Roofing an existing yard? See the £40/m² yard roofing grant.
Buildings we put up in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Questions about building in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Who decides planning for a farm building in Rhondda Cynon Taf?
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council for most of Rhondda Cynon Taf; the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority for land inside Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, which covers the far north, above Hirwaun and the Cynon valley.
Is Rhondda Cynon Taf on the coalfield?
Most of it sits on the South Wales coalfield, so old shallow workings and mine entries are a real foundation question — check the site on the mining authority’s map before anything is designed.
Who approves drainage for a new building in Rhondda Cynon Taf?
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, as the SuDS Approval Body for Rhondda Cynon Taf, for anything covering 100 square metres or more.
Do you build in Pontypridd?
Yes. South West Steel Buildings design, supply and erect buildings across Rhondda Cynon Taf, including Pontypridd, Aberdare, Treorchy, Tonypandy, Llantrisant, Mountain Ash and Hirwaun.
Tell us what you want to put up in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Rough span and length is enough. We reply the same day, wherever you are in Rhondda Cynon Taf.