The troubled prison is a category B prison located in Coity, Bridgend
HMP Parc on the outskirts of Bridgend(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Controversial plans to expand the troubled Parc Prison to house hundreds more inmates have been approved by Bridgend County Borough Council. The proposal was given the go-ahead at a council planning committee in November, to a build a new “K-shaped house-block” that will accommodate an extra 345 residents along with an additional 160 members of staff.
HMP Parc is a category B prison located in Coity, Bridgend. It was opened in 1997 and is operated by private security firm G4S. The current site holds a total of 1,670 inmates as well as 676 members of staff.
The application was handed in by Galliford Try Construction Limited earlier in 2025 on behalf of the UK’s Ministry of Justice. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
It will now see works at the privately run facility to build a new block on the south-west of the site along with the repositioning of parts of the boundary wall.
This comes in addition to the development of a replacement kitchen and dining block, along with a new gym, multi-faith building, education building, and visitor/staff entrance with extra car parking and associated infrastructure.
A report given to council bosses said: “The current expansion is part of a UK-wide scheme to increase capacity by developing existing prisons to house additional residents. It is expected that this proposal will future proof HMP Parc for the foreseeable future.”
However, the application saw a large response from residents who live near the facility with concerns over increased levels of noise from the site, as well as increased traffic along Heol Spencer as a result of the additional staff and visitor numbers.
Others said they had fears over the management of the prison with reports of drones being flown into the prison from residential streets, and people who were said to be loitering and “looking for ways into the prison grounds”. You can read more about the response of locals here.
Speaking at the meeting Cllr Amanda Williams said she and others in the village of Coity understood the prison had to expand, though felt more needed to be done for the community to address the issues they would face as a result – in particular with traffic calming measures and safe walking routes for visitors.
Other councillors at the meeting echoed these concerns, with Cllr Ian Williams and Simon Griffiths expressing worries for pedestrians who would need to cross a busy dual carriageway to reach public transport near the local Sainsbury’s.
Planning officers said many of the issues raised were pre-existing and from an established facility, with members only able to take in to account what additional impacts the new development could have.
When it came to improved pedestrian access highways officers said it would be difficult to develop a walking link from the Sainsbury’s bus stops to the prison as it would have to cross private land.
They added that they recommended the plan for approval as it was acceptable with a reasonable contribution to go towards traffic mitigation, with the need for the expansion outweighing the negative impacts.
A representative speaking on behalf of the applicant said noise from the prison and the use of drones would be mitigated with the installation of new windows, while conditions would be in place for additional tree planting to screen neighbouring properties from the site.
They also described the “substantial” economical benefits of the proposal which would eventually bring 160 well paid jobs to the Bridgend area.
Following debate, the plans were later approved by councillors after a recorded vote of ten members for to three against.
