Waterhall - Fairwater

I'm sort of answering my own question (it wouldn't be the first time I talked to myself) but the area around Bessemer and Hadfield Rd's is also ripe for residential. I think there was a tentative outline planning application a couple of years ago but since then nothing. I'm also thinking of East Tyndall Street/Sanquhar Street around the former Splott Market site.

Maybe the sites of Llanrumney High and Rumney High when the Eastern High School is built?

I'd missed this story

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... 00-8274852

It seems that there is cross-party opposition to this plan. My objection has always been based on the lack of public transport provision. I'm not a nimby, as I don't live in Fairwater, Radyr, Danescourt or Llandaf. Until a rail/tram line is built to serve new homes west of Fairwater, this project should be shelved.
The traffic between the city centre and the BBC is already very heavy. The Heathcock to Llandaf pinch-point cannot be overcome and will always be congested. Building new homes that will feed into the city via this route will cause gridlock, unless a very high frequency metro is built.
I get the feeling that the people flying the flag for Plasdŵr have little knowledge of local conditions.

Completely agree! What is the point of having a navigated track bed running through the site if all you're going to do it designate it a cycle route? At the very least it should be a combined bus/cycle way.

I can't say I disagree with either of the two above posts. I'm very pro-development but the transport provisions are totally stupid and unrealistic.

It really does need it's own railway station with plenty of park and ride spaces AND a dedicated link road to the A4232/junction 33...a bit like the eastern part of the A4232 between junction 30 of the M4 down to the A48.

Not everyone that will buy a home there will work in the city centre, and even if a large proportion do, what about all the journeys people take in the evenings and at weekends, what about visitors to all those homes, what about deliveries to the commerical centres etc.

The local authority, the City Region body and Welsh Government need to get involved now so that they can make this a success. It would be great to have a new suburb like this but more pro-active engagement from the authorities and the developer need to happen. It's just too big to be allowed to mess up.

Whilst I agree that utilisation of the existing track bed makes sense, I'd say the residents of East Cardiff have more of a pressing case for rail works to be undertaken

Having recently moved back to the area and observing (I don't drive thank God), I concur that forcing more traffic onto Llantrisant road is insane.

Having recently moved back to the area and observing (I don't drive thank God), I concur that forcing more traffic onto Llantrisant road is insane.

isn't this really a problem all over Cardiff though? I know the residents of northern Cardiff complain massively about Caerphilly Road...are the council setting themselves up for something similar here? I also think it is a problem that Cardiff and similar sized cities will face as they grow. There just isn't the infrastructure or space to develop the infrastructure there. what is there is large town/small city infrastructure and what is needed is medium sized city infrastructure....

what the solution is I have no idea.

Caerphilly Rd is indeed a nightmare but there is the option of Ty Glas, Llanishen and Birchgrove train stations plus a number of alternative routes to the city centre.

The proposed Plasdwr has, as I understand it, a ready made solution to the access problem, ie. a disused railway line that could be put back into commission realtively easily and to the benefit of not just this new area but existing communities further up the Taff Ely valley. Nothing is ever quite as easy as that of course, but that is a viable alternative.

What I don't like about this scheme is the blithe way that transport issues are dealt with - a vague notion that people will jump on their bikes or use shank's pony contrary to the experience of the last 50 years or that some fabled train/tram solution will come to the rescue at some undetermined time in the future (even though the less than a mile route between the Bay and the city centre has yet to kick off despite having been talked about for at least 15 years). It's back of a fag packet stuff and vaguely insulting. If Redrow et al want to fill their boots by developing this area then put your noggins together and come up with something a bit better than wishful thinking.

And by the way you are absolutely right about East Cardiff. It is very much the poor relation in the city and it's incredible that there isn't one station between Cardiff Central and Newport.

what the solution is I have no idea.

A one child policy, then eventually the whole situation will settle down!

The transport element is clearly the weakest part of this proposal. I have experienced the route in question on more than one occasion (accessing it via Llandaf North) and know that it is busy.

I think we have to distinguish between two types of opposition. One is opposition to the plans given the current transport provisions. That I can understand. I do not think a rail link should be a full pre-requisite - but I think that should be a priority for any metro (along with stations to the east and a Park and Ride in St Mellons). And in its absence, significant investment in bus transports, including bus priority within the development, would be vital - and should receive a significant part of its funding from developers (and ultimately the landowner, as such obligations depress land values). We should recognise that the plans do discuss the possibility of tram-train - perhaps we're being a bit unfair on the developer here - such a large scheme is probably something that should be initiated by local, perhaps even national, government.

Second is a more opportunistic form of opposition. These people are using the transport shortcomings as cover for opposing a development that they oppose more in principle. They don't want us "concreting over our countryside", or have vague notions that a constrained Cardiff will mean more growth elsewhere, like the Valleys. We've had long discussions about why I think such arguments are regressive, and a risk to our nation's prosperity, reduce the opportunities for young Welsh people, and hurt rather than help the environment, more broadly defined. We had a previous council exec who were opposed to greenfield development in principle, for instance. And a large swathe of people in Cardiff either support these ideas because of the "common sense" sound to them (its only when you start thinking of the knock on effects that you realise constraining Cardiff's growth is a bad idea), or because of NIMBYism.

So, what is needed now is a genuine attempt to engage with the council, with the Welsh government, and with developers, to see what infrastructure investment is feasible, and how to manage growth in Cardiff - because Cardiff really is the best hope for the Welsh economy.