Testun llawn:
My comments on the RLDP concern the Strategic Transport Assessment – in particular regarding the road junctions with the greatest impact on traffic within and through Dinas Powys.
Technical Note 06 assesses that the following junctions will reach or become over capacity during the Plan period following implementation of the proposed strategic housing developments:-
• J7 - A4231/A4055 Cardiff Rd / B4267 Sully Moors Rd (McDonald’s roundabout).
• J9 - Penlan Rd / Barry Rd / Andrew Rd / Cardiff Rd / Redlands Rd (Merrie Harrier junction)
• J10 - Penarth Rd / Cogan Spur / Windsor Rd / Barry Rd (Baron’s Court junction)
• J12 - Leckwith Rd / Pen-Y-Turnpike Rd.
Technical Note 07 aims to identify conceptual mitigation measures for restoring traffic at these junctions to acceptable levels. However, the Note 07 Summary reveals that such measures which are proportionate are only possible for J12. Of course, if the capacity (and safety) of J12 is improved, more traffic is likely to use Pen-Y-Turnpike which would result in more traffic through the old village of Dinas Powys.
For junctions J7, J9 and J10, Note 07 states that the extra traffic from the proposed RDLP strategic housing developments would be only a small proportion of the over capacity traffic and that only large-scale mitigation measures would be effective.
In order to alleviate congestion at those junctions, Note 07 recommends that the Vale Council continues to pursue regional scale interventions with Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) and Transport for Wales )TfW). But what has that achieved to date?
This assumes that the Council will follow that recommendation and that such interventions will result in the larger scale mitigation measures required.
But, given that, in the Dinas Powys area in recent history, no significant measures to mitigate traffic congestion have been proposed by the Vale Council let alone implemented, the assumption that somehow such measures will happen is surely wishful thinking.
The Vale Council have long trumpeted Active Travel as the panacea to increasing traffic but what significant steps have the Council taken (e.g. a cycle path between Dinas and Barry) to enable even a modest modal shift?
Without larger scale mitigation measures (for example a Dinas Powys By-Pass), the present traffic congestion situation will only get worse exacerbated by the proposed strategic housing developments.
It is not disputed that extra housing is desirable but shouldn’t the granting of planning permission for those developments be contingent on adequate facilities and infrastructure being provided either by the Developer, the Council or the Government?
Is the Council giving a higher priority to meeting government housing targets than to providing or facilitating the infrastructure to enable the local economy to function efficiently.
A future scenario of ever worsening traffic congestion and its adverse impact on the local economy should be a reason for delaying further housing development until adequate larger scale improvements to the transport infrastructure are made or at least in progress.
Roger Pattenden BSc MICE
