A community fighting to stop part of their much-loved local park being developed for a sewage pumping station will have their day in court today at the Civil Justice centre in Cardiff.
To coincide with the launch of the judicial review brought by the Llandaff North residents association, we've looked in detail at why Welsh Water wants to build a station to pump sewage in the historic Hailey Park green space and why the campaigners believe Cardiff council should have given it more scrutiny before approving it.
The court case is set to be heard at Cardiff Civil and Family Justice Centre, Park Street, on Thursday June 29 and Friday, June 30, after the residents association raised more than £11,000 to bring the case. Local residents, groups, councillors, MSs and an MP have all spoken out on on the controversial plans. One campaigner, Pendre Sims of Llandaff North Residents' Aossication, even staged his own rather unique protest - sitting on a toilet in the middle of the park.
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Here is everything you need to know.
Where is Hailey Park?
Hailey Park is in Llandaff North and is largely green fields surrounded by mature trees and vegetation. It lies in a central position on the River Taff valley and the park is rich with wildlife. The Taff Trail passes through the park and it's a popular destination for dog walkers, walkers and cyclists.
To the east of the park, there are sports pitches, such as for rugby, football or cricket, and the park is home to both Llandaff North Rugby club and Whitchurch Rugby Club. The park also has a change room building and two car parks.
To the north east of the park there is a road called Ty-Mawr Road. There is an existing vehicular access road to the park which branches off Ty-Mawr Road and runs to the changing room building (adjacent to which is one of car parks). The second car park is located along this access road.
What is a sewage pumping station?
As Pumping Solutions explains, a sewage system comprises a pipe network which carries wastewater and excrement from homes and businesses to the main sewer pipe, which takes it to a treatment plant or disposal site. Normally, the waste flows through the domestic pipe network into the main sewer thanks to gravity. But in low-lying areas, the main sewer is at a higher elevation than the domestic pipes, so a sewage pumping station is needed to pump the raw waste up to the main sewer, which then carries.
Why does a sewage pumping station need to be built in Hailey Park?
There is a new housing development being built in Cardiff, known as Plasdŵr and dubbed Cardiff's £2 billion 'garden city for the 21st century'. It is being built in the north west of the city and will eventually deliver up to 7,000 new homes - as well as shops, offices, schools, leisure centres and health centres - over the next two decades. You can read more about it here.
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is a not-for-profit company which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to most of Wales. It said on its website that it has a "duty to support new housing developments whilst ensuring that they do not impact on the services that we provide to our existing customers".
It expects additional waste flows as the Plasdwr development progresses, putting pressure on the wastewater system in the area. The company said it needs to ensure the sewage network has the capacity to deal with these increased flows and wants to make improvements to the system in the Danescourt area of Llandaff and the Llandaff North area.
A committee report by Cardiff Council explained that the existing local sewer network in the Danescourt area, on the west side of the River Taff discharges to the Cog Moors Waste Water Treatment Works, which is located in Dinas Powys. "However the downstream section of the existing network does not have capacity for increased flows," said the report.
Welsh Water said that, where possible, some of the new properties will be connecting into these existing sewers where there is sufficient capacity. But where this is not possible, it needs to pass the excess waste flows directly into one of its existing trunk sewers which carries the waste to Cardiff Wastewater Treatment Works, which is located on Rover Way.
"To do this, we need to connect a sewer pipe that runs from Danescourt to a connection point located on the other side of the River Taff...Working closely with our designers and the local authority, it was agreed that the best solution to manage the additional flows would be to build a small pumping station within Hailey Park which the sewer pipe will connect to," Welsh Water said.
The site in the park would subsequently discharge excess flows to the existing trunk sewer line which connects to the Cardiff Wastewater Treatment Works. As Hailey Park is low-lying land, the wastewater needs to be pumped up into the network - hence the need for the sewage pumping station.
Welsh Water said the proposed site for the pumping station was selected as the most appropriate after careful consideration of various locations. They said it "allows us to use the existing Cardiff sewerage network whilst keeping our carbon footprint low and eliminating the risk of widespread disruption across multiple key travel routes in Cardiff."
Where exactly will the sewage pumping station be built, and what will it look like?
The pumping station will be located near the edge of the park, just off Ty-Mawr Road to the north east. Planning documents say it will be built directly opposite one of the car parks, upon "existing overgrown green space including unmanaged grass and shrubs", not on existing open space.
The total area of the site Welsh Water wants to occupy within Hailey Park will measure approximately 2,950 square metres. The pumping will be located within a compound, which will be approximately 24 metres long and 21 metres wider - taking up approximately 575 square metres of the total area the company wants to occupy.
The compound will be enclosed by a green mesh fence approximately 2.4 metres high, and Welsh Water said it has been designed to blend in with the landscape. The rest of site will not be developed but it will be used as an area to replant scrub, wildflowers and trees to disguise the site and boost biodiversity.
Within the compound there will be three kiosks above ground, which will be no more than 2.5 metres high, while the pumps themselves will be 20 metres below ground and concealed with a concrete cover at ground level. Welsh Water said this means residents will not be able to see the pumps, nor expect to notice any noise or odour from the area. The company will also build a 63 square metre access road which will run south off the compound off the existing vehicular access through the park directly opposite the existing access to the northern car park.
There is a second site associated with the development. It's located on the other side of the River Taff, nearly 0.5 kilometres south west from the principal site in Hailey Park. A 1.2 metre tall actuation valve control kiosk will be built at De Braose Close in the Danescourt area of Llandaff, upon overgrown scrubland adjacent to the eastern pedestrian path.
This site is where the existing sewer system west of the River Taff will be diverted to run north east below the River Taff, to the pumping station and connecting to the system at Ty Mawr Road.
When is the work due to start and how long will it take?
Welsh Water had planned to start the work in February this year and said it will take around 18 months to complete. But it said because of "a number of outstanding issues and the close proximity of the bird-nesting season", it is now planning to begin in September.
In the first few weeks it will set up the working area around the pumping station site and it will need to clear some vegeation and make "temporary adjustments to footpaths and access gates" when setting up the compound to ensure park users can still to access the park safely. "During the first six weeks of our work, a temporary compound will be set up opposite the main site at the beginning of the work. Throughout our project access for park users will remain open, but there may be some diversion routes in place which will be clearly signposted," the company said.
It added: "At the start of the project, you will notice construction deliveries being made to and from site. However, once the site is set up and work is underway this will be less frequent. All construction traffic will be coming through Whitchurch, via Velindre Road and Ty Mawr Road."
Why are people objecting?
Local residents and regular users of Hailey Park have been objecting to the plans since late 2021 after the application was publicised in November that year. Local groups, including the Llandaff North Residents' Association and the Glamorgan Anglers Club, have objected, along with local councillors, while Julie Morgan MS, Andrew RT Davies MS and Anna McMorrin MP have made representations in support of some of the concerns raised by members of the public.
In a letter to the Western Mail at the end of 2021, Stephanie Wilkins, the chair of Llandaff North Residents' Association, said: "Land for the park was left to the residents of Llandaff North by Claude Hailey and has grown to become the park we know and love today: a mix of traditional park with tennis courts and playgrounds, sports pitches and the popular meadow, all of which forms part of the Taff river corridor.
"To “plonk” a sewage pumping station on the park near the meadow is an act of corporate vandalism, with little regard to local residents and park users from across Cardiff. We have a message for Cardiff council: no."
The concerns about the pumping station range from potential bad smells and noises from the facility, the creation of an eyesore, pollution of the local area, impact upon biodiversity, disruption from the construction works, effect on property values and saleability, the impact upon health and the loss of green space.
Opposers also claim there has been insufficient consultation and transparency during the process of the development. A petition launched by Llandaff North Residents' Association called for the proposal to be discussed in public, claiming that Cardiff council, the land owner, had not consulted local residents and park users about the development and change of use.
Campaigners maintain that the pumping station could be built somewhere else where it would be less intrusive. They argue there should be a facility at Plasdwr itself to deal with the site's excess sewage and that Llandaff North should not be involved in the management of Plasdwr's waste at all.
As set out in the council's committee report, objectors also claim there has been no justification for Welsh Water's assertion that this proposal is essential for the Plasdwr development. They claim that other options - not involving Hailey Park - were previously proposed by the company and accepted by the council, which they say appear to be less environmentally damaging.
They say one of these options was to build a modern treatment works at Plasdŵr which would discharge clean water at all times - something they believe would be more environmentally sustainable and beneficial for both the environment and future generations than this proposal.
Campaigners have also pointed out that Welsh Water said on its website that it would "work with the developer to explore other solutions" if planning permission was not granted.
Why did Cardiff Council grant permission for the development, despite the objections?
The plans were approved in September 2022. Cardiff Council's planning committee approved the application despite a last ditch effort from residents and campaigners to delay a decision.
The council's committee report featured analysis of the land use/principle of the development, the impact on the character of the area, the impact on the amenity of the area and neighbouring occupiers, the impact on the natural environment, drainage and flooding and other matters. Notably it found that the site of the pumping station had "no significant functional or amenity value", is "of no significant quality" and "has no significant nature or historic conservation importance". It added that footprint of the compound and access road would result in the loss of less than 0.06 hectares of open space.
It concluded the proposed pumping station would "not exacerbate a deficiency of (functional) open space" and would have "no unacceptable impacts that cannot be mitigated to an acceptable degree by conditions". It added: "Moreover, notwithstanding the acceptability of the development, it also amounts to essential infrastructure proposed by a statutory undertaker, which has been afforded significant weight given that it will serve the local and wider community, and help sustain Cardiff as an important settlement and achieve the required level of growth."
What is the judicial review about?
The judicial review is not so much about the pumping station proposal, but the way approval was given for it. Llandaff North Residents' Association has brought proceedings against the council to contest it decision to grant Welsh Water planning permission for the development.
Following the council's approval of the development on September 8 the association crowdfunded £5,000 to employ a senior barrister to advise them on their legal case and send a letter before action to the council on their behalf. The letter invited the local authority to concede to quashing their planning committee decision - an invitation which the council rejected.
Stephanie Wilkins, chair of the Llandaff North Residents' Association, said the focus of their legal challenge was how the council granted permission for the proposal. She and others allege the process was not done properly.
She previously told WalesOnline: "The legal challenge is purely about the process. We're saying they didn't have the information in front of them to be able to make the decision" and added: "One of the grounds is that the council didn't do an environmental impact assessment." If the campaigners are successful in their legal challenge, Welsh Water would have to review their planning application and submit a new one.
Interested parties joining Cardiff Council are Welsh Water, housebuilder Redrow (the principal development partner for Plasdŵr, creating around half of its homes), and St Fagans Trusts.
Ahead of the judicial review, Stephanie Wilkins, chair of the Llandaff North Residents' Association, said: "The Llandaff North community has really pulled together to fight this injustice and the judicial review will scrutinise Cardiff Council's planning processes and decision to send sewage from 7000+ home Plasdŵr to Llandaff North, and build a sewage pumping station on Hailey Park. There is no benefit to Llandaff North, and we carry all the risk of the increased loads under our Victorian houses and on a flood plain.
"Cardiff Council are leasing Hailey Park for Welsh Water to build a sewage pumping station for Redrow, and the only people benefiting are Redrow and their profits, and the Earl of Plymouth Estates who are estimated to make £1billion from Plasdŵr...while we lose parkland, with all the inconvenience. We never dreamed that our local Councillor and Cardiff Council would agree to lease our park, and the community have really pulled together and our campaign won't be stopping here! We'll be continuing to call for Cardiff Council to stop the lease and tell Welsh Water to find that alternative solution, like they said they could in their July 2022 newsletter."
