LDP Meeting 7th October 2013

121 R&M Residents attended a meeting in the Drama Studio of Radyr Comprehensive School on 7th October 2013 to learn about the implications of the Cardiff Local Development Plan (LDP). Speakers at the meeting were Cllr Rod McKerlich, Chairman of the Radyr & Morganstown Community Council (R&MCC), and Nick Hawkins, Secretary of the Radyr & Morganstown Association (RMA).

Cllr McKerlich apologised that no Council Officers were present. He had extended an invitation to them to join the meeting but had been told that legal restrictions prevented their attendance at ‘private meetings’ at this time.

Residents heard that the LDP sets out the plan to build 41,100 new homes in Cardiff by 2026, 5000 of which will lie between the southern boundary of Radyr and St Fagans and Fairwater. A further 2650 homes are also to be built up towards Creigiau. The R&MCC and the RMA have been working with adjacent Community Councils in Creigiau, Llandaff, Pentyrch and St Fagans who will all be affected by this scale of development.

There was a full discussion on the implications of the LDP and brief notes of the meeting can be found here. Inevitably, the key issues raised concerned traffic and the fear that the necessary infrastructure (ideally railways) might not be put in place before the homes are built. Residents were told that it was an uncomfortable truth that developers are not required to fund all the necessary infrastructure in advance of building and that a fully functioning railway could cost up to £1 Billion.

The LDP went out to full public consultation for a six week period from Tuesday, 15^th October 2013 to Tuesday 26^th November. There was a ‘Drop in Exhibition’ at the Old Church Rooms, Park Road, Radyr on Thursday, 31^stOctober when residents talked to Council Officers and expressed their views. Various ‘Consultee Conferences’ (i.e. public meetings including a presentation and round table discussions) were held, including one at Plasmawr High School, Pentrebane Road, Fairwater on Tuesday 12^th November.

It was firmly hoped that as many R&M residents as possible would take advantage of these opportunities to be involved with this critical planning process. About 40 people came to the OCR on October 31st.