Refugees set to move into temporary homes

The first tenants are expected to move into portable cabins on a former school site that has been redeveloped for emergency housing.

A total of 90 temporary homes have been constructed in Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan, for Ukrainian refugees and families on the council's housing waiting list.

The authority used permitted development rights to start the project, meaning it did not have to seek planning permission straight away.

Householders complained there should have been a consultation process, with some cabins close to their back gardens.

The project has since been signed off by Vale of Glamorgan's Council's planning and building control teams with permission to remain in place for a minimum of five years.

Council leader Lis Burnett said the site would be important in easing pressure on its housing stock and "represents a far more dignified solution" than using hotels.

However, nearby residents continue to campaign against the council for the way it dealt with the scheme and have raised funds to take legal action.

There have also complaints that the site should have been used for a new medical centre to ease pressure on local services.

The council said it had been in discussion with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board about using the site of the former Eagleswell Primary School for a health facility.

Kateryna, who fled Ukraine with her son, Timur, in 2022, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service earlier this month that they moved into a hostel in July after spending the last two years with sponsors.

"Our sponsors, we are so grateful for them because they waited and waited and they didn't ask us to leave them," she said.

"But the circumstances [became] worse and we had to move this summer."

She said they had been living in small hostel room in Barry with all the possessions they brought with them, including two cats, while they wait to move into the new development.

Kateryna said the opening date for the site, now known as Heol Croeso, had slipped from June.

"It probably wouldn't be an issue if we would stay here for a month... but staying here longer and having to deliver my son to school every day, it affects me," she said.

Tenants at the site will be charged a weekly flat rate of £174.27, plus a £40.72 service charge to cover utilities, costing £860 every four weeks.