Progress on plans to build hundreds of homes stalled

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Progress on plans to build hundreds of homes on land in Cardiff has stalled after councillors asked to see the proposed development site before making a decision on the scheme.

Cardiff Council’s planning committee met on Thursday, February 6, to discuss an application to build up to 205 new homes on land at Church Farm in Lisvane.

Conservative ward councillor for the area, Cllr John Lancaster, said he and the local community council had concerns about the proximity of the planned development to the M4.

Noise pollution

The councillor requested the planning committee visit the site first in order to get a better understanding of these concerns, which relate to potential noise pollution for future residents.

Other concerns Lisvane Community Council has about the development include its potential impact on traffic in the area and the perceived lack of public transport.

A travel plan produced on behalf of the applicants, Redrow, makes reference to two railway stations in North Cardiff – Llanishen and Lisvane and Thornhill.

Summing up the concerns of the community council, a Cardiff Council planning report states: “Both are a considerable walking distance from Church Farm and realistically would only be used by Church Farm residents who choose to drive to the station.

“However, both stations have no capacity to accommodate any additional parked vehicles as their car parks are frequently full with some commuters parking in local residential streets which itself is causing additional problems for those residents and road users.”

Drone footage

Planning committee members were show drone footage of the proposed housing site at Thursday’s meeting and council planning official, Steve Ball, argued there wasn’t any extra insight to gain from carrying out a site visit.

However, councillors voted in favour deferring the application with the chair of the planning committee, Cllr Ed Stubbs, saying they would look to conduct a site visit at the beginning of next week with a view to reconvene and make a decision on the plans as quickly as possible.

The application was a hybrid planning application, comprising of a full planning application for 61 homes and an application requesting outline planning permission for 144 homes.

When plans are granted outline planning permission, it means they have been granted in principle, but finer details on things such as landscaping and access to the site still need to be laid out and brought back for a decision at a later date.

The application site is located in an area that’s earmarked for housing development in Cardiff Council’s local development plan (LDP).

Councils use LDPs as a blueprint for future development and they mark out which areas of land should be used for building houses, which areas should be used for industrial development and which areas of land should be protected from development.