A popular Cardiff park is to be shut until the end of the year as essential maintenance work continues. Grangemoor Park in Grangetown was closed to the public on January 31 this year to allow for work to commence on the former landfill site underneath the park.
The park was initially due to be closed until the middle of June. However, Cardiff Council has confirmed that while half of the work has already been completed, works will continue until the end of the year with the park remaining closed to the public during that time.
The work is being carried out to renew leachate and methane gas equipment on the former landfill site underneath the park. The site at Ferry Road, which took in 4 million tonnes of rubbish before its closure, has been leaking leachate into the Bay since at least 2017.
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This is due to the leachate collection system at the landfill being faulty. Environmental inspectors from Natural Resources Wales previously found that Cardiff council workers, who were responsible for managing the landfill, were unaware of the purpose of the collection system. Get the latest news from across Cardiff by signing up to our newsletters.
Rotting rubbish in old landfills usually generates methane gas and vile toxic liquid called leachate. After the years of pollution were revealed last year, huge dirt tracks appeared in Grangemoor Park to allow access for maintenance workers. The source of the spillage has now been identified and resolved.
While footways around the park can still be accessed by the public, the park is currently defined as a construction site and is therefore still closed. The council has said it has considered fencing off some areas of the site to ensure some of the park remains accessible, but concluded that this would be "extremely difficult" to manage to due the nature of the work taking place.
They added that they recognised the inconvenience to the public and thanked them for their patience while the work continues. They added that they are "working as quickly as we can" to carry out the necessary work.
A spokesperson for Cardiff Council said: "The park has been closed to the public whilst essential maintenance work - involving heavy machinery and the renewal of leachate and methane gas equipment - are carried out on the landfill site which is underneath the surface of the park. Once completed the works will ensure the landfill site is secure and the park will be reopened to the public.
"As the park is currently defined as a construction site under Health and Safety laws, unfortunately we are unable to allow public access at this time. However, footways around the park remain open to the public and give access to the river walk.
"The council has considered fencing off areas of the construction site to enable some public access, but due to the nature of the work - which requires an ability to move across the park to deal with issues when they arise and with ease – makes this extremely difficult to manage."
They added: "We recognise the inconvenience to the public and are working as quickly as we can to carry out the necessary maintenance work to ensure the park is safe to use when it re-opens. Significant progress has already been made with half the work already completed, but there has been a delay on some planned works due to the nesting season.
"The source of the leachate spillage into Cardiff Bay has been identified and resolved in accordance with the requirements set by Natural Resources Wales. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience while this work takes place and further updates will be given when they are available."
