Home » Cardiff’s new housing plans unveiled, but public transport concerns persist

Cardiff’s new housing plans unveiled, but public transport concerns persist

County Hall on Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff (Pic: M J Richardson)

COUNCILLORS have called for better public transport infrastructure and new bus routes to support plans for tens of thousands of new homes in Cardiff.

Cardiff Council’s cabinet members agreed to move forward with what will effectively be the blueprint for future development in the capital over the next 10 years.

The full plan, also known as the deposit plan, for Cardiff’s replacement local development plan (RLDP) could see 26,400 new homes built in the city by 2036 and 32,000 jobs created.

With the endorsement of cabinet members behind it, the deposit plan will now go to full council for approval before going out to consultation for eight weeks.

Local development plans (LDPs) are used by councils to determine which areas of land should be used for developing housing and which areas should be developed for industrial use. They also determine which areas of land should be protected from development.

Speaking at a Cardiff Council cabinet meeting on Thursday, January 23, leader of the Liberal Democrats group at the council, Cllr Rodney Berman, said he welcomed a number of elements of the plan.

For example, under the proposed RLDP, there will be a 50:50 split between the use of brownfield and greenfield sites for the development of housing.

However, Cllr Berman said there wasn’t enough to satisfy his group in terms of transport improvements and called on the local authority to look at strengthening the delivery of public transport infrastructure and ensure there are new bus routes to any new housing developments.

Group leader of the Liberal Democrats group at Cardiff Council, Cllr Rodney Berman (Pic: Rodney Berman)

Independent Conservative councillor, Cllr Peter Littlechild, also raised concerns about the commitments to public transport improvements in the RLDP deposit plan, referencing cuts to bus routes across Cardiff over the years.

Cardiff Bus was one operator in the city that made major changes to some of its routes in August 2023, citing funding issues and the slow recovery of bus patronage post-pandemic as some of the reasons behind cuts to services.

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The RLDP deposit plan proposes to encourage sustainable transport through investments promoting travel by walking, cycling or public transport.

Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for climate change, strategic planning and transport, Cllr Dan De’Ath, said he shared Cllr Littlechild’s frustration on cuts to bus routes over the years.

He also pointed to a number of changes planned by the council to make travel by bus in the city more attractive.

One of these is a plan to create more bus lanes and make changes to a number of key junctions across Cardiff with the aim of speeding up bus travel and making it more reliable.

One aspect of the council’s proposed RLDP is that it will incorporate legislation and certain planning policies which have come into being since the current LDP was adopted in 2016.

Conservative group leader at Cardiff Council, Cllr John Lancaster, picked up on this at Thursday’s cabinet meeting, adding “absolutely none” of the policies which will be followed under the RLDP will apply to thousands of homes currently being built or which have been given planning permission.

Cllr John Lancaster – Cardiff Council ward member for Lisvane and Thornhill and leader of the Conservatives group (Pic: Ted Peskett)

Head of planning at Cardiff Council, Simon Gilbert said many of the homes under the current LDP which have been approved for development have only been given outline planning permission.

That is, the plans for housing have been approved in principle, but many details including things like layout, access and landscaping will still need to be approved by the council.

Mr Gilbert said: “I think it is fair to say a lot of those processes will be considered against the new plan and not the old plan.”

Cardiff Council will meet on Thursday, January 30, to vote on the RLDP deposit plan. If approved, the consultation will commence on Tuesday, February 18, and close on Tuesday, April 15.

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