Caerphilly housing plans

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... y-11043042

Its sometimes been mentioned that rather than building homes in Cardiff we should be building more in surrounding areas.

Well alas, it seems those surrounding areas don't want them either.

Here is a proposal for a mid-sized development around half a mile away from Caerphilly station, part on brown field land and part on greenfield land. Its the kind of place outside Cardiff that is most suitable for development of homes for a population who will partly work locally and partly commute into Cardiff.

But its in the wrong place apparently. Homes should be even further north, where people are "moving from". They should be even less suitable for people commuting into Cardiff. They should depress property prices in areas where demand is already low even further.

The real issues here are:
- People generally won't be happy wherever housing developments are proposed
- Many in Wales are still wedded to this idea that what needs to be done is government directing development to deprived areas, rather than trying to help people adapt to changed economic circumstances that make some areas less viable than they once were (e.g. large parts of the mid-upper Valleys), and others more attractive (M4 corridor and especially Cardiff).

Quite franky it will cost billions and billions trying to turn the Valleys round and go against the economic tide. The best bet is instead to improve transport to the more attractive business locations and build more houses closer to those areas. The Cardiff LDP envisages doing that. And so do the LDPs of RCT, Bridgend and Caerphilly, where most houses are planned for the areas closest to the M4 and Cardiff.

Those who oppose this need to spell out a realistic alternative plan. Not simply say "we need to invest more in the poorer areas". Where is that money to come from? What are the chances of success? etc.

There is a 'snow line' for residential development in South Wales, local politicos telling house builders to build in the upper valleys will told to do one and see no homes being built at all. The valleys as a whole should focus on being fantastic places to live in, surrounded by greenery and a sense of community and seize their role as commuter towns, just a train ride from Cardiff, whilst being on the doorstep of a national park.

It's pointless throwing good money after bad trying to attract industry back as the Bevan Foundation and an old lecturer of mine at Cardiff University, Calvin Jones, continuously beat the drum about. There are one or two towns in the valleys at most where this is possible such as Merthyr. It is an anomaly though as it is a relatively concentrated area for South Wales with a population of over 50,000 with decent road links on the A470 and A465.

The Circuit of Wales is being built in the wrong place as well IMO, would make more sense being built on the M4 corridor so I watch with curiosity to see how it turns out.

It's not the only proposed development in the town that they are rolling out the NIMBY excuses for. There's an extension of sorts to the Hendredenny estate planned where fields nearby are being built on by Redrow (I think) so you can imagine what's happening.


I don't understand whoever it was saying that brownfield sites should be built on either. It's a nice idea, but what do you do when the brownfield sites run out? That's where we are virtually at in Caerphilly. The last 20 years has seen a large number of houses built in the town, many on brownfield sites but we now need to build on fields I'm afraid.

They are correct about our traffic however, it isn't great and a lack of plans for fixing this is just playing into NIMBY hands. The proposed road as part of this development is a great idea but it's the fact that the various roads that make up a by-pass around the town are still single carriageway that gets to me, especially if you compare it with a similar-ish size town in Bridgend that has dual carriageways everywhere, likewise the roundabouts at each junction don't have lights. It's very very slow to move around at rushour for both reasons.

It's certainly true that the A468/9 can be a nightmare at busy times. Whether duelling them would solve or just move the problem I'm not sure. Lights at the roundabouts would definately help though.

The Rhymney valley is an area where a fully developed Metro would come into its own - particularly if tram services could run up into the Aber valley and in the Caerphilly - Bedwas - Newport corridor. I think we've discussed the Aber valley line before and reached the conclusion that the alignment is still pretty complete. I have no idea what the the state of former Caerphilly - Newport rail corridor is.

I think Caerphilly would benefit from high density developments around the town center and train station, it would enliven the town and bring a wealthier demographic to the center, yet provide cheaper properties for those working in Cardiff.

I've heard of politicians purposefully locating jobs in deprived areas, but houses? Seems very odd. Perhaps they just think the developers are being fickle and have no real preference for choosing the south of Caerphilly rather than the north.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local ... gory%20p$6

Julie Morgan has said plans for 700 homes in Caerphily would "wreak havoc" with traffic in north Cardiff. Wayne David says he recognises the need for houses but they should be "further up the Valleys" and on "brownfield sites".

First, I understand that incrementally developments in Caerphilly will put more pressure on north Cardiff roads. But 700 aren't enough on their own to 'wreak havoc'. And the site is well chosen so that the houses are within walking distance of Caerphilly train station. From a sustainability avoiding-driving point of view, its actually about as good a location as you can get in the Valleys!

Second, I'm getting increasingly frustrated by the "lets build in the Valleys" mentality. It seems that lower-Valleys locations like Caerphilly and Church Village aren't "Valleys" enough. Further up, house prices are low and demand weak: not that many people really want to live there. As a result, new build housing is not that commercially viable, especially on brownfield land, which is often difficult to remediate.

Third, do politicians seriously think effort hasn't been put into attracting business and employment to the Valleys? Billions have been spent. Yet still the Valleys flounder. I think there are several reasons for this: low educational attainment, driven by a mix of parental and school attitudes; relatively poor transport connections to Cardiff and cross-Valley; a bit of a lack of an entrepreneurial culture; probably misallocation of some of that government support into poor-value schemes that prop up rather than tackle failure. In principle, all of this could change. But there'd still be the at-least-as-big challenge of basic economic geography, which is boosting cities and hurting peripheral areas.

Building houses in Cardiff and the lower Valleys, and improving transport connections, are probably the most feasible way of giving Valleys people the opportunity to work and earn more. The other schemes I hear just seem to be subsidy buckets, or will likely impoverish the community further (one variant being pushed by some academics is the idea that the future of the Valleys lies in 'self sufficiency' - providing jobs, and "stopping profits being shipped out by multinationals". They forget that trade, whether between countries, communities or individuals, is fundamental to efforts to boost living standards.

With all this in mind, lets get behind schemes that make it easier for Valleys people to access jobs in Cardiff. That includes living nearer to Cardiff!

Finally, I wish they wouldn't claim these homes are "on Caerphilly mountain". Its not exactly a lie: they are on the lower slopes of the mountain. But the impression people will get is that they are on or close to the top.

Also like to take the opportunity to complain about more shoddy journalism from Walesonline. It mentions the campaign groups being not just about the 700 homes in question but the 4000 homes more generally being built in the Caerphilly Basin. There is a link to an article embedded beneath the "4000 homes" text.. but you click on it, and it takes you to to a story which is about the 700 homes and has no reference to the 4000 at all... The decline in (already poor) journalistic standards at WalesMedia is just shocking!

Why build them elsewhere ? We are a Capital city of a great country.
If London, Paris, New York thought like this, they would not be half the great cities they are today.

We need to build in Cardiff and grow and make this City something that is talked about around the world... think big and out of the box... We are not a village !

All councils have to produce LDPS, but my fear is that councils don't seem to think strategically, developments, especially on scales like this impact surrounding authorities, notably on roads and public transport. I wonder if there is a mechanism in place to address this?