NEW homes which will replace a patch of land in Cardiff described as an “eyesore” has been welcomed by a local councillor.
Cardiff Council’s planning committee approved plans for 83 new homes on land formerly occupied by RAF Caerau next to Western Leisure Centre.
As part of the scheme, 58 of the homes will go out to the open market and the remaining 25 will be council homes for rent.
Cardiff Council ward member for Caerau, Cllr Peter Bradbury, called the application “fantastic” at the planning committee meeting on Thursday, October 19.
He added: “It is adding green space to an area which is quite an eyesore at the moment.”
It is hoped that the homes will go some way to helping Cardiff tackle its housing crisis.
There are still thousands of households on the council’s housing waiting list. In August the figure stood at 7,900 households.
Cllr Bradbury added: “I think we all know the pressures on the waiting list and a lot of those pressures come through my surgery every month.”
The RAF site where the homes will be situated closed in the 1950s and has been vacant since the mid-2000s when the remaining buildings were demolished.
It is also just south of Heol Ebwy and Narberth Road, which is an area Cllr Bradbury said sometimes suffers from issues with speeding vehicles.
He added: “Residents there [are] mainly supportive of the planning process and are supportive of this eyesore and magnet for anti-social behaviour being developed.
“However, there have been concerns around speeding in the area and…. what they think is a lack of restrictions in the area for highway to look into.”
The application proposes a traffic calmed area that caters for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicle users on site.
Cardiff Council planning officer, Alexandra Richards, said: “In respect of the application, we have received a transport assessment and it is forecast that the development will generate 30 two-way vehicular trips within the busiest peak hour.
“Colleagues in transport have considered that this is not a large amount of traffic and considered that off-site speed reduction measures are not required in order to mitigate this development.”
