Council to take over store lease in plans bonanza 10 DAYS OF OUTDOOR
MILLIONS of pounds towards Cardiff’s infrastructure and social housing, a new sea wall and cemetery, and a takeover of a troubled Toys R Us store are among the projects signed off by the city’s council.
An investment of £445m for the infrastructure of south-east Wales, including £40m towards the redevelopment of Cardiff Central railway station, is now a step closer to coming to fruition.
A business plan for the funding in the Cardiff Capital Region has been signed off by Cardiff council’s Cabinet – and the money will be unlocked when the plan is signed off by nine other local authorities in the region.
Cardiff Capital Region represents a £1.2bn investment in the area over 20 years – £734m of which has already been committed to a metro public transport scheme.
Councillor Huw Thomas, leader of Cardiff council, told his fellow cabinet members the money should be spent in a targeted way.
He said: “£1.2bn seems a lot of money but over 20 years it’s fairly small numbers. It’s not like in Northern Ireland where they are getting more money in a few years.”
Councillor Adrian Robson, leader of the Conservatives on Cardiff council, said employment opportunities created by the funding will be welcome, but warned it could be seen as a failure if expectations are raised too high.
He said: “There will be a lot of people who will be quick to criticise the City Deal if it doesn’t work. I really hope it comes off.”
Councillor Joe Boyle, leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, made similar warnings.
“If this money is spent on ideal projects that don’t deliver, that money spread across 10 local authorities will disappear very, very quickly,” he said.
The council will take over the lease of the Toys R Us store in Cardiff Bay after the retailer went into administration.
Cardiff council will look to let out the store on a short-term basis until it works out how the site can fit into its wider plans of delivering a leisure facility in the area.
More than £188m of investment in the council’s housing stock from 2018/19 to 2022/23 was also signed off.
More than £119m of this will be spent on new builds – Cardiff council is aiming to build at least 1,000 new homes by 2022 to meet the increasing demand for social housing, and a further 1,000 over a longer term.
Plans for a new cemetery in Cardiff also moved forward after the council committed to using a 12.5-acre site north of the M4 on the A469 as a new £3m burial site.
The council will now seek planning permission to use the site, less than 650 metres from Thornhill Cemetery, for much-needed space for new graves.
New burial space is being actively sought by the council as Cardiff is fast running out of places to bury the dead.
It is estimated that Thornhill, the biggest cemetery in the city, could run out of space for new graves after June 2020.
Councillor Michael Michael, cabinet member for clean streets, recycling and environment, said: “Cardiff is a growing city projected to be the fastest-growing city in the UK. Thornhill expanded in 2010 but it’s rapidly running out of space.”
Cardiff council has also committed to an £11m coastal defence scheme to protect east Cardiff from flooding.
A wall of boulders will be built along more than 2,000 metres of the coastline parallel to Rover Way and protect a traveller site, 249 homes and a Tesco supermarket.
The council, which is pledging £2.75m to the scheme along with £8.25m of Welsh Government funding, will now tender for a contract to design and build the scheme.