New agreement offers added protection to popular parks and green spaces in Cardiff

Popular parks in Cardiff will be given extra protection after senior councillors approved plans to enter into a legal agreement with a charity which defends parks and green spaces from development.

The agreement with Fields in Trust means the council must hold the protected sites for outdoor leisure and recreation only and any changes outside of these purposes would need consent from the charity.

However, a council cabinet member cautioned the agreement, known as a deed of dedication, will not protect parks from the development of “necessary infrastructure” after concerns were raised about recent developments in other parks across the city.

Sewage pumping station

One of the parks which has been put forward for protection, Hailey Park, is having a sewage pumping station built on it and more recently, campaigners criticised the council for building a 5m-wide tarmac shared cycle and pedestrian path through Roath Recreational Ground.

The following parks and green spaces in Cardiff which will be given Fields in Trust status include:

Caerleon Park – Trowbridge
Cemetery Park – Adamsdown
Craiglee Drive – Butetown
Westfield Park – Pentyrch and St Fagans
Parc Waun Fach – Pentwyn
Trelai Park – Caerau
Rhydypenau Park – Cyncoed
Sanatorium Park – Canton
Heol Llanishen Fach – Rhiwbina
Fairwater Park – Fairwater
Hailey Park – Llandaff North

Speaking at last week’s cabinet meeting, Liberal Democrats councillor, Cllr Joe Carter asked: “The scheme is great in theory, but when we have the reality of so called protected fields potentially being swapped in the case of Maindy or… Roath Rec [being] built on anyway, does this really offer the protection that our residents expect it to?”

Flexibility

In response, Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for culture, sports and parks, Cllr Jennifer Burke, said: “I think it does. I think there has to be a level of flexibility given that this is a growing city.

“What Fields in Trust and the deeds of dedication allows us to do is to protect these sites… and certainly for the long foreseeable future, but we can’t guarantee what Cardiff will look like in 100 years time and that whatever authority is responsible for managing Cardiff and the sites that it has in its portfolio that things may change.

“Certainly in all our lifetimes these sites are protected.”

There are already 10 parks and green spaces in Cardiff protected under Fields in Trust status, taking the total number of sites in the city up to 21.

A survey about the proposal, which obtained 906 responses from members of the public, found Hailey Park was the most used park out of the 11 put forward for protection.

Cllr Burke said some people disagreed with the proposal to enter into an agreement with Fields in Trust because they felt the protection offered didn’t go far enough or because they felt it was a money-saving exercise.

She said: “No money is being saved by putting parks into trust because they are still going to be maintained by our park services.

“It means that we are not going to consider it for capital receipts and that kind of thing. We are protecting green spaces.”

Sceptical

However, the Conservatives group leader at the council, Cllr John Lancaster was also sceptical about the protection the status would afford.

Maindy Park, which is held in trust by Maindy Park Trust – a charity Cardiff Council is the sole trustee of – is currently subject to a land swap request.

If it is approved, the land swap, which would see land at Maindy Park exchanged for land at Caedelyn Park in Rhiwbina, will pave the way for Cardiff Council to progress with its plans to expand Cathays High School.

Cllr Burke said: “I think there is an element of confusion because what Fields in Trust does is it protects the parks and green spaces [from] development of a commercial variety.

“Hailey Park is in my ward, so I will declare an interest there. It is a park I use on a very regular basis and obviously I was involved in campaigning against the pumping station from the beginning.

“What Fields in Trust doesn’t permit for is necessary infrastructure. So, it is not to say that no developments [can take place] somewhere at all.

“We can still have sports infrastructure, we can still have very necessary infrastructure for housing as has become apparent, but it ensures that we are not building a block of flats on Hailey Park or Sanatorium Park or wherever it might be.”