Replacement Local Development Plan

A well-attended meeting in the Christ Church Schoolrooms on Monday 10th March, organised by the R&M Community Council and the Committee looking into the Replacement Local Development Plan for R&M, was addressed by Simon Gilbert, Chief Planning Officer for Cardiff County Council.

1. Simon stressed that Candidate Sites were not chosen by the planners but submitted by Landowners. They would remain candidate sites for as long as the landowners wished them to be considered.

2. Four sites were a worry to R&M:

• The Station car park
• Cwm Farm
• Goetre Fawr
• Plas Dwr Uchaf

None of these sites have been chosen as Development Sites in the new proposed RLDP, and that three of them, Goetre Fawr, Cwm Farm and Plas Dwr Uchaf, are now in a proposed “Green Wedge” around the city.

Simon explained that:

The Welsh Assembly Government has overestimated the required growth needed for Cardiff in the present LDP.

That Plasdwr would be at least 20% unfinished when the present LDP ends in 2026.

That there had been a move away from a need for houses in the green fringes of the city and an increase in demand for living units in the city centre. All the candidate sites selected for development were brown field sites in the City and the Docks area.

The Proposals, which can be read in full on the Cardiff Council site www.cardiffldp.co.uk would be part of a consultation process which ends on April 15th, 2025. All residents are urged to send their views by e-mail to LDP@Cardiff.go.uk You are asked to state that you agreed with the proposals of the Planning Office.

Any previous comments you made to the Planning Department would no longer be considered and you are asked to re-submit your comments before April 15th.

The Proposals will then go to an Inspector, later in the year,  who will produce a report which says the plan is acceptable.

Simon thought that the new RLDP would come into operation in the spring of 2026. When the new RLDP comes into operation the current LDP would no longer have any validity.

The new plan would have a life of fifteen years, but Simon suspected that he would need to return to it within four years.

This is the last LDP which is likely to cover Cardiff only. The next Plan will include ten County Councils and cover the area of south-east Wales.

While this is largely good news for Radyr and Morganstown, we must remain vigilant. The first thing you need to do is to send an e-mail saying you support the proposed RLDP and state your objections to the four candidate sites in Radyr and Morganstown, Cwm Farm, the Station car park, Goetre Fawr and Plasdwr Uchaf, to LDP@Cardiff.co.uk.