Councillors to object to plans for student flats

COUNCILLORS say they will object to plans for more than 350 student flats to be built in their ward.

Plans for a 361-flat development have been put forward to Cardiff council for land between Western Avenue and North Road in the Mynachdy area of the Gabalfa ward in Cardiff.

The land, known locally the coalyard, has been vacant for a long time and previous proposals for student flats have been put forward.

But, the latest proposal by developer Mederco (Cardiff Ltd) to only include 22 parking spaces for people who have disabilities, means residents are concerned about the effect it will have them.

Lib Dem ward councillors Rhys Taylor and Ashley Wood say they will object to the scheme.

They say that a proposal to ban students from parking within a 1.5-mile radius of the site will be too hard to enforce.

Coun Taylor said that people are worried about anti-social behaviour and parking issues.

“People aren’t happy with this development and are worried about the impact on their privacy and problems with parking and anti-social behaviour.

“The same rules for parking are the same at the Liberty Living development and there are problems there.

“Because the main access is at Radyr Place, all the feedback there has been that people are worried about anti-social behaviour at the existing homes,” said Coun Taylor.

The plans are for studio-style apartments.

The five buildings would be built alongside each other in a linear formation along the railway.

They would be at least 10m away from the railway to “limit vibration impact”.

In papers submitted to the council, it says that at a drop-in event held at the existing community centre, the “comments were genuinely positive”.

“The main concerns related to parking, pedestrian access and security. The introduction of a new community centre and boxing club were widely welcomed”.

The new boxing club and centre would be built in the north west of the site.

Councillors have also been campaigning for a railway station to serve Mynachdy and Talybont to be included in the plans for a new Metro.

They say developers had been in discussions with them for that to be built on the same piece of land and hope those discussions will continue.

The plans can be seen in full at www. cardiff.gov.uk