51°30′17″N 3°15′28″W / 51.5047°N 3.2578°W / 51.5047; -3.2578

Planned location map of Plasdwr in Cardiff

Plasdwr (Welsh pronunciation: [plasˈduːr]) is the name given to a planned new suburb of approximately 7,000 homes in the north of Cardiff, Wales. Construction by lead developer Redrow Homes started in 2017.

Background

Plans were submitted in December 2014 for "Plasdwr" (meaning "Waterhall" in English) which was to be created on 900 acres (368 hectares) of countryside owned by the Plymouth Estates between the village of St Fagans and existing Cardiff suburbs of Fairwater, Danescourt and Radyr.[1] An area of what is now part of Fairwater was previously known as Waterhall[2] (and a Waterhall Road still runs between Fairwater and Danescourt).

The plans included approximately 7,000 homes (with a first phase of 920) plus infrastructure including five schools, offices and shops and leisure facilities.[1] The scheme is being marketed by developer Redrow Homes as a "21st century garden city".[1] Planning approval was granted for the first 630 homes in February 2016, after Cardiff Council had approved the city's Local Development Plan (LDP) which envisaged 40,000 new homes being built across Cardiff by 2026.[3] Planning permission was granted for the remainder of the scheme (6,000 homes including health and leisure facilities) in March 2017, the largest planning application ever considered by the local authority.[4]

Redrow has been asked to pay £28 million towards improved transport infrastructure.[5]

Construction

Farmland next to the Llantrisant Road near Radyr, in 2005
New green space and housing southwest of Llantrisant Road (2023)

Building work started on the first 126 homes on land north of Llantrisant Road at Easter 2017.[6] In January 2018 a 16 acre 'show village' was unveiled. Thirty houses had already been sold and occupants had moved into six of them.[7] Completion of the whole scheme is expected to take 20 years.

The last remaining farm in the area, Maes-y-llech Farm adjacent to Llantrisant Road, was subject of legal action in 2018 by the Earl of Plymouth to evict the tenant farmers from the land. They protested by painting 'sad face' emojis on their hay bales.[8]

A new primary school was planned, with both an English language and a Welsh language entry route, though with the English stream being taught in Welsh up to 50% of the time. The proposal attracted criticism both from proponents and opponents of Welsh language medium education.[9] The completion was delayed because of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. The school would have a catchment area including Plasdwr, Creigiau, St Fagans, Radyr, Morganstown and Fairwater.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Sion Barry (10 December 2014). "Revealed: 7,000 home garden city project planned on 900 acres of land in north west Cardiff". Wales Online. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  2. ^ One-inch Map of Great Britain – Cardiff, Ordnance Survey, 1956
  3. ^ Ruth Mosalski (10 February 2016). "The first of Cardiff's 40,000 new homes have been approved". Wales Online. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  4. ^ "£2bn Cardiff 'garden village' homes plans approved". BBC News. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Bus interchange future for Cardiff to be revealed". BBC News. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  6. ^ Katy Sands (17 February 2017). "Building work for first set of homes in Cardiff's £2bn garden city to begin before Easter". Wales Online. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  7. ^ Jessica Walford (22 January 2018). "These are the first homes in Cardiff's new £2billion suburb Plasdwr". Wales Online. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  8. ^ Will Hayward (27 July 2018). "The family turfed off the land they've farmed for 50 years by the relentless expansion of Cardiff". Wales Online. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  9. ^ a b Alex Seabrook (24 June 2020). "The controversy behind the new Plasdwr school in Cardiff that will be half-English and half-Welsh". Wales Online. Retrieved 13 October 2020.

External links

City of Cardiff
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