214 homes set to be demolished in major Grangetown redevelopment to build 400 more

Alex Seabrook, local democracy reporter

Plans have been approved for a major redevelopment of the Channel View council housing estate in Grangetown in Cardiff.

The Channel View scheme will see 214 homes demolished, including 56 houses and 158 apartments.

Developers will replace these homes, over seven phases, with 400 new homes as part of Cardiff council’s huge house-building programme.

The first phase will see two new apartment blocks on the northeastern edge of the estate, for people aged over 55. One block will be 13 storeys tall with 57 apartments, and the other will be eight storeys tall with 24 apartments. A new cafe will be included on the ground floor of the northern block, facing the river Taff and the Marl park.

Later phases will see 319 homes built across the estate, and further details of these phases will become clear as future planning applications are submitted for each one.

The council’s planning committee granted permission on Wednesday, December 15. Councillors heard concerns about the lack of cycle parking for the first two blocks—only 10 spaces will be provided for the 81 apartments and four for the new cafe. Council bosses however agreed to explore increasing the number of cycle spaces.

Channel View was built by the river Taff in the 1970s, and many of the houses there suffer from subsidence, while the existing apartment tower has fire safety issues.

The new homes will all be built to a low carbon standard, with better insulation, solar panels for electricity, and ground source heat pumps for heating.

Part of the new homes will be built on the southern and western edges of the Marl park, meaning the park will lose about nine per cent of its area, just under one hectare. But councillors on the planning committee said this would be offset by “lots of little new parks” within the redevelopment.

‘Excited’

Welcoming the plans, Councillor Frank Jacobsen said: “As an ex-resident of Channel View Road—I was living there in the late 70s and early 80s—I have seen the deterioration of the place over the last 40 years. The residents around there were like a little family, everybody knew everybody down there.

“It looks like a promising good idea.”

After the meeting, cabinet member for housing Cllr Lynda Thorne said: “Our plans for Channel View will create a greener, more sustainable, more attractive neighbourhood for people living in the area, with high-quality community spaces and better connectivity to public transport, shops and local facilities.

“Phase one will provide contemporary, sustainable, flexible new properties suitable for people’s changing needs as they age, to replace the existing block of flats. I know that many of the tenants in the high rise are already impatient to move into these new homes and they will be just as excited as me about today’s good news.

“This will be just the first step in our exciting masterplan, the first piece of the jigsaw, that over the coming years will come together to create a thriving, desirable place to live in Grangetown, with a good mix of private houses and apartments as well extra council homes we need so much to help tackle growing pressures for good quality affordable homes.”

Future phases will see houses knocked down on South Clive Street, to create through routes from the bottom of Channel View Road for a bus, and to the Ferry Road park for walkers and cyclists.