Fri Feb 12, 2016 4:21 pm
I think the main issue is that in their traffic planning they looked only at junctions (and then only a subset of those)! So they looked at J33 and found there are already hold ups there, and there will be even more so if they allowed full access. On the other hand, they found that junctions on Llantrisant Road between Castell Mynach and Danescourt Road were performing OK, and wouldn' be that adversely affected by the development.
But what about delays in travelling between junctions? And what about junctions closer to the centre (with the road from Whitchurch, the A48, Pencisely Road, etc)?
You might also think about the convenience of residents? Well, a telling paragraph in the transport assessment says that "transport policy aims at modal shifts away from private cars to public transport" and that this meant "efforts to improve convenience of drivers within the site, and more generally, is contrary to policy". Or words to those effects. In effect, the developer interprets policy to be that driving should be made harder, to get people to use public transports.
Having thought about it, there are other aspects of this development that seem a bit silly to me. The masterplan shows some of the business space not being accessible from J33, but instead being accessed via the residential elements (and hence Llantrisant Road). We've already seen occupiers move away from space in places like Llanishen that have poor transport. Why would they locate in a residential area on the very edge of the city?
I'm thinking the business space element is a plan they have no intention of implementing. As laid out, the business space looks like it lacks critical mass and is poorly sited in the overall site (see above). Either they will have to reconfigure, or just abandon altogether, and claim lack of demand. Then they can get more residential development on a site the council wanted to have at least some 'employment land' on.