Campaigners have pointed out that Cardiff council’s own monitoring report shows that building projects around the city are well behind schedule – thus questioning the need for the release of further land for development.
In Plasdŵr, north west Cardiff, 740 homes have been completed. However, by now, 2,879 dwellings should have been completed, according to the council’s calculations.
The building of affordable homes is also well below target. The current Local Development Plan (LDP) states that 6,646 affordable units should be delivered between 2014 and 2026. The latest figures show that just 1,797 homes have been completed.
On the LDP’s ‘strategic site D’ on land north of M4 Junction 33 just 216 homes of a projected total of 1,050 (by 2022) have been completed. On land known as ‘strategic site E’ south of Creigiau no homes, of an expected delivery of 650, have been completed.
Peter Fortune, from the campaigning organisation Radyr & Morganstown LDP Group and himself a former principal planner with Cardiff council and member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, said: “The shortfall in delivery calls into question the need to release further land within Cardiff, especially given the interest being shown on brownfield sites in the area between Central Station and the Bay.
“The overall deficit is expected to be 20,416 homes completed by 2026, the end of the current LDP period. The Plasdŵr development is unlikely to be completed before 2035, if not later, if the increase in mortgage rates continues to slow down demand.
“The council cannot justify destroying sensitive greenfield sites in Cardiff, some of which are SSSIs [sites of special scientific interest], given the shortfall, and particularly as the 2021 census figures show a significantly smaller population growth than expected.”
Mr Fortune added: “Building unnecessary dwellings in Cardiff also indicates that the council is ignoring the ‘Cardiff Capital Region’ with proportionately more houses being proposed here rather than in neighbouring areas where, arguably, they are needed more.”
Nerys Lloyd-Pierce, chair of Cardiff Civic Society said: “Developers and landowners are already clamouring for the release of more land within Cardiff. Should this happen, they will ‘cherry-pick’ the easier sites rather than completing building on the strategic sites already allocated to them.
“This will result in communities losing valuable green space, and the health and wellbeing advantages associated with access to open space. Some sites are SSSIs and developing them will cause further biodiversity loss in an already nature depleted city.”
Cllr Dan De’Ath, Cardiff council’s cabinet member for transport and strategic planning, said: “We are continuing to assess the latest evidence on household growth, including the Census data, together with the need for affordable homes across the city.
“We will also consider the existing housing development commitments within the city in advance of preparing a Replacement LDP Preferred Strategy for consultation later in the new year. This will ensure the plan is founded on a robust evidence base and informed by the latest trends and evidence.
“The consultation on the Preferred Strategy will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to engage in the process and give their views on the recommended level of growth and the proposed way it will be delivered. The feedback from this consultation together with any further evidence relating to household growth will then feed into the preparation of the next stage in the plan process which is the Deposit Plan.
“We have also acknowledged in the latest Annual Monitoring Report that there was a delay in bringing forward the LDP sites in the years following the adoption of the Plan in 2016, as it was important to make sure that these very large developments were carefully considered by the council as the local planning authority.
“However, recent trends show that these numbers are now increasing across the strategic sites, and this is starting to successfully drive the delivery of new homes at a level not seen for the past 10 years.
“The progress of these sites together with any other existing housing development commitments will inform the preparation of the Replacement LDP which will cover the period 2021 to 2036.”
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