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Response to Cardiff Replacement Local Development Plan PDF Print E-mail

The North West Cardiff Group which represents local community groups in Creigiau, Danescourt, Gwaelod y Garth, Llandaff, Pentyrch, Radyr & Morganstown and St Fagans has recently written to the Head of Planning at Cardiff Council concerning the Cardiff Replacement Local Development Plan and the Taff River Corridor.  The text of the letter is reproduced below.

 

Dear Mr Simon Gilbert,

Cardiff Replacement Local Development Plan

 

Taff River Corridor

 

I write as Chair of the North West Cardiff Group which represents the interests of the residents of Creigiau, Pentyrch, Gwaelod y Garth, Morganstown, Radyr, St. Fagans, Danescourt and Llandaff, some 24,000 people. Group membership comprises all the Community Councils of the above areas together with representatives from the Radyr and Morganstown Association, the Danescourt Community Association, the Llandaff Society and the Cardiff Civic Society. 

 

Request for a policy presumption against development in the Taff River Corridor in the RLDP

The  NWCG, together with the Danescourt Community Association, the Radyr and Morganstown Association, the Llandaff Society and Cardiff Civic Society all propose that there should be a presumption against development for the whole area between De Braose Close, the railway line, Radyr Court Road and Danescourt, together with the green areas adjacent to Radyr Court Close declared  in the RLDP. The Save Our Woods Group is also in full support of this request.

The reason for this is that the whole area is located within the Taff River Corridor and is shown as such within the LDP. The paths through the woods provide links to the parkland to the south and the well used woodland paths to the north through Radyr Woods and they form part of the scheme to recreate the historical Penrhys Pilgrimage Way between Llandaff Cathedral and Penrhys that the Council supports and promotes. 

The whole of these areas have been available for the recreational use of the Danescourt community and the Radyr Court Close community since the development of these areas n the late 70s/early 80s, an uninterrupted  period of over 40 years. Their loss now would be not just a considerable blow but also a significant reduction in the leisure facilities available to both these and adjoining communities.  

The policies designed “to protect” the Taff River Corridor within the LDP – KP16(iii) and EN4 -  appear to be meaningless however because for the last two and a half years the Council’s Planners have been considering a Planning Application (20/00187/MJR) for the development of part of this land. Over 500 written objections to this application for development have already been submitted and there is a petition containing more than 2,000 signatures against it. If the designation of River Corridor was to have any significance, this application for planning should have been rejected on its receipt.

In addition, the Wales and West Housing Association has recently consulted regarding a proposal to erect 14 dwellings on the land adjacent to Radyr Court Close as required by the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2012 Part 1A. If this proposal is submitted to the Council as a planning application, it must also be rejected on its receipt.

Other considerations are:

(i) These areas are already in the LDP as part of the Taff Green corridor, 

(ii) the woodland forms a wild life corridor that could be enhanced by sensitive planting/management in which the community could be active players.

(iii) it is currently available as a local woodland to the residents of Danescourt and Riversdale and the loss of it would cause considerable local disquiet and protest.

(iv)  the flat grassed area not currently wooded could either become a site for tree planting or could be used by residents as an informal play or sports use area. It could also be used to replace the loss of the recently named "Radyr Vale Park" within which the highway drainage attainment ponds are currently being constructed. Given that the ponds are being constructed using S.278 of the Highways Act 1980, this land can no longer be considered to be parkland but rather should be considered to be a part of the highway network, albeit I am advised that Cardiff's Parks Service will maintain its soft landscaping. 

(v) It could also usefully be considered to form an important part of Cardiff Council's Coed Caerdydd scheme.

(vi) the loss of the grassed areas adjacent to Radyr Court Close would also cause local disquiet and protest, and

(vii) for all the above, the protection from development of both these areas in the RLDP would be in line with the Council's duty to promote the health and well-being of its citizens.

 

Stewart M Burgess

Chair, North West Cardiff Group

 

October 2022

Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 October 2022 19:40
 
New Businesses PDF Print E-mail

We welcome two new businesses to Danescourt.

Serendipity Beauty & Complementary Therapy Salon has opened at Unit 2 of the precinct in place of the Ladybirds Day Nursery which has moved to replace the Radyr Court Pub.

Court House Coffee Shop has also opened in the former Rady Court pub.

Last Updated on Sunday, 18 September 2022 17:41
 
Letter to Councillors PDF Print E-mail

The DCA Committee has written to our councillors regarding a number of questions concerning the building work northwest of Danescourt.  The letter is reproduced below.

 

Dear Peter and Sean

 

On Monday 16th May, the Committee had the first in person DCA meeting since before lockdown. Firstly, congratulations to you both and the DCA looks forward to working with you over the coming years.

 

The Committee has tasked me to write to you both on the following points. As you know the building work northwest of Danescourt has progressed at a pace and this has raised a number of questions:

 

1. The Committee is dismayed with the houses built opposite the garage due to their inappropriate height above those properties in Danescourt which back onto Llantrisant Road.  Also the over-powering development now being built in the former field in the apex between Llantrisant Road and Heol Isaf. The Committee would like to know what principles of planning were followed and why the Planning Committee approved these details.

 

2. We have heard various rumours that the percentage of affordable housing has been reduced.  The Committee would like to know what the original percentage was, and what it is currently planned to be.  If the rumours prove correct, we would like to know why the Planning Committee allowed this reduction and who benefitted from these changes.

 

3. The Committee would like to know why planning permission was granted for the development south of Llantrisant Road where inadequate drainage was evidently provided by the developer.  Having realised this inadequacy, the Council has found the need to avoid flooding occurrences by construction of the large attenuation pond on its parkland which has caused so much angst. There is also the matter of having set a precedent, with the implication that future planning applicants may be able to rely on the Council to solve their inadequate drainage proposals.

 

4. There are rumours that the ponds already built have not been constructed properly and are going to have to be replaced.  Does this indicate inadequate inspection/supervision, and if that is the case why has this occurred?  To cover these issues it would be very helpful if Simon Dooley could attend one of our meetings to give us an update and answer questions.  As Elected Members please could you arrange this, and also be in attendance at that meeting?

 

5. There is an area to the west of the railway line and north of the access tunnel that has been referred to as a “depression”.  This area is associated with the current proposal to build 36 houses to be served by a new road extension to De Braose Close. It has frequently been saturated during rainy periods and it is now being proposed as a water holding area in bad weather. This seems a ridiculous idea.  Please can you find out more about this and update us at the next Committee?  Also there is no evidence that Transport for Wales (previously Network Rail) has been consulted on this proposal.  Please can you determine whether consultation has taken place and what their response is?

 

6. There is a petition of some 2000 signatures against the ‘save our woods’ application plus more than 500 objections. There is a suspicion that reducing the affordable housing on the main developments, and by specifying affordable housing in the 'save our woods' application is an underhand and devious way of getting this application approved.  We would hope that the percentage of affordable housing in the main development can be restored to the original levels in the main development.  Please can you discuss this with the Planning Committee to reassure this is not the case, and report the outcome to our next Committee meeting?     

 

7. The Committee would like to know current progress re the housing targets proposed by developers during preparation of the LDP.  It is a legal requirement to report on progress. In particular, the Plasdwr development is claimed to be a garden city development, but there is no sign to date of the provision of any parkland, education, or community facilities, despite the number of houses already built.

 

8. Large planning developments are usually the subject of S.106 Agreements, often requiring the payment of significant sums of money to the Council for associated improvements. In recent years the Press has reported that a number of developers have avoided payment of these sums by claiming their developments had turned out to be nonviable.  The Council apparently accepted these claims, but it is not known to what extent they were examined or what evidence was provided to justify any of them. It is clearly important that all the S.106 Agreements in respect of Plasdwr should be paid in full, either on or off-site, and our Committee are keen to receive an assurance to this end, together with amount that these s106 agreements have generated.

 

9. Many of the problems with the developments along Llantrisant Road flow from the adoption of a flawed LDP - the responsibility of the Council's Cabinet, not its Planning Committee.  The fact that the Strategic Site allocations in the LDP were too large and not underpinned by a sustainable transport strategy was pointed out by the North West Cardiff Group (including DCA) during the LDP's preparation and at its Examination in Public.  However the developers were listened to while the well-informed "voice of the community" was not.  DCA thus implores you to ensure that the new Cabinet learns lessons from the LDP debacle, and takes a different approach during preparation of the Replacement LDP - one that gives equal weight to the views of the local community para 9 ...

 

Finally the Committee look forward to a considerable improvement in performance of the Council and its Planning Committee, who we hope will put Cardiff first as opposed to developers profits.  We are confident that you will represent both the interests of Danescourt residents and Cardiff as a whole as your top priority. 

 

 

Kind regards

 

Edgar Gibbs

Chair DCA

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 May 2022 17:06
 
Dwr Cymru - De Braose Close PDF Print E-mail

Dwr Cymru  - Welsh Water - has issued an update regarding the work on the sewage network at the end of De Braose Close.  You can read about it  here

Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 July 2022 19:34
 
Welsh Water Sewerage work at De Braose Close PDF Print E-mail

Welsh Water have built a track at the end of De Braose Close into the woods as they wish to install a sewage pipe that will connect to a Pumping Station in Hailey Park, so that the sewage will flow to Cardiff Waste Water Treatment Works as an alternative to Cog Moors Waste Water Treatment Works.

 

The pipe will be connected to a valve installed in the system and controlled via a cabinet placed at the end of De Braose Close. The pipe will pass deep underneath the railway and river and connect to an underground pumping station accessed by the lane to the Hailey Park changing rooms from Ty-Mawr Road.

 

This work is due to the Plasdŵr development, which will connect to the sewage pipe in Herbert March Close. Work is planned to start mid 2022. Further details are on the Cardiff Planning System here

The location of the De Braose cabinet and the Hailey Park pumping station are on this map.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 November 2021 19:26
 
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