Plans for huge garden city approved by council

A CONTROVERSIAL garden city on the outskirts of Cardiff has won approval.

The massive 5,970-home Plasdwr development northwest of the city was given the go ahead by Cardiff council’s planning committee.

In what was a boisterous planning meeting, with members of the public being asked to leave after outbursts, the impact on transport was by far the biggest concern.

There are major worries over the impact the development will have on the city’s creaking transport system.

Councillor Graham Thomas, although voting in favour of the proposal, said: “This will be an additional 24,000 trips every day. Those who already live in this area will tell you that we need a complete re-think as the roads haven’t been developed for years.

“They are narrow winding routes that you cannot simply leave as they are. Buses are just part of the solution.”

The plans were also criticised over the impact on wildlife. Birds, barn owls, bat roosts and great crested newts are all identified to live in the area.

The committee heard how “green infrastructure has been integral to the design process”, with species protected through the retention of woodlands and trees – with bat roosts, green corridors and buffers along hedgerows as well as new habitat for amphibians.

The first 126 of 630 proposed homes, which were approved by planners at the end of last year, will be built on a 16-acre site to the north of Llantrisant Road and construction of these homes is expected to begin before Easter.

Infrastructure improvements will continue and work at the Pentrebane site for a further 290 homes will begin before the end of the year.