Central Square

You really do wonder if some of these councellors actually get out and see different parts of the world.

That Cllr Michael Michael sounds like a right knob!

Granted. I'm disappointed personally. A lot of concerns were raised in that meeting that were all dodged by saying "We don't have to worry about that for this application". That may be the case, but this is about the wider area. I'm also disappointed that there was little to no conversation about the buildings themselves, and whether or not they actually looked nice and fitted in with the area. There were some ghastly images in those slides!

And also, how is that bus station going to have enough capacity for all the bus routes that are going to use it? Cardiff's old bus sation had like 34 stands, no? 34 to 14... hmm..

Cardiff bus has about 45 routes (75% of which used the old station). On top of that theres probably another 20 routes which are less frequent that used the old bus station.

If we assume the about 75% the bus routes in the city use the station, and come every 20 mins.. 45 x 3 = 135

and the buses come this often from 9 - 5.. 135 x 8 = 1,080 buses a day. (9-5)

1080 / 14 = 77 buses using each space a day

77 / 8 = around 10 buses using each space each hour, thats a new bus coming in, every 6 minutes.

This bus station will be a nightmare, lol. Unless they put much less than half the bus services at the bus station. But what would be the point of a bus station that no buses would go to. I would seriously suggest to anyone who knows a member Cardiff's planning committee to reconsider this bus station. It needs at least double the spaces.

One of the main reasons so many spaces were needed/used at the old station is that buses would lay up at the station. Now that isn't the case, except for quick toilet stops if required.

I actually think the bus station is probably OK. Its the buildings on top I think are the problem - and I guess they are now approved!

That Cllr Michael Michael sounds like a right knob!

He does! Sounded like he just wanted to get back home for tea!

I think the problem with the new bus station will be delayed buses. This was a lesser issue with the old station as buses would wait there regardless for up to 20 minutes, allowing for quite lengthy delays. We all know how useless Cardiff Bus can be sometimes, and I worry that with a bit of congestion, we could end up with a horrible backup of buses onto Wood Street!

I am disappointed. The level of debate of such a substantial and important development for Cardiff hadly fills you with confidence for the future.

I wasn't much of a fan of the original design, but I do think this is a very poor design, both aesthetically and functionally. It also seems rather odd to me that they're pushing ahead with the bus station, forming part of an integrated transport hub, yet there are no designs from Network Rail regarding the station redevelopment. Of course, no mention of the Metro in this planning application debate either!

Unless there are some serious discussions going on behind the scenes, you just know this is going to be a botched job!

Personally, I think the central station should be either moved up the track or built on the south side. Leave the historic station as a match-day station and build a modern and fit-for-purpose station that can be integrated full with the planned Metro.

Just found this pic online, that tower does look like a very tall one 100m +
Sadly there is now tower in central square

What on Earth? How will they fit thousands of HMRC employees in such a small building?

I'm confident this is not accurate to HMRC's plans

Just found this pic online, that tower does look like a very tall one 100m +
Sadly there is now tower in central square

That tower is huge! It looks to be 120m+, maybe taller than Watkin Jones's plans. I like the form too, but no doubt it will change.

I am concerned about the HMRC plans. That's certainly not big enough for the possible 500,000 sq ft needed for HMRC + the other public sector organisations which are supposedly in talks. But I can't see this not being accurate. That model has included the Central Square tower for a long time, so there's surely a reason for removing it.