Cyngor Bro Morgannwg
Vale of Glamorgan Council

I would like to Object to the inclusion of the candidate site Ref 353 Land on the West Side of Cardiff Road, Dinas Powis as a housing site within the VoG LDP review on the basis of the following material issues.

Traffic and Highway Safety:
This is a site abutting an already severely congested A road (A4055). This is a single carriageway principle road travelling from Barry to South Cardiff which would be significantly compromised by
A) the increased traffic as a result of addition of 250 new homes. Equating to circa 500+ vehicles using the road plus accessing a new junction
B) the additional of a signalised junction 300m from an established junction and the additional tailbacks this would create.
I do not believe that Persimmon Homes have provided sufficient analysis of the additional transport and traffic requirements of this site and access. Both options 1 and 2 of the site access arrangements are whole insufficient and have not accurately accounted for the current volume of traffic already travelling along Cardiff Road. This access arrangement also compromises work already completed on active travel and the bus lane. A mitigation to this has not been demonstrated in their assessment or initial design. One of the options proposed the use of the but lane to support the turning/joining arrangement to/from this site which will compromise the rational for the creation of the bus lane in the first instance.
The integrity of the A4055 and surrounding infrastructure would not support the suggested signalised junctions, which would create significant build up of traffic both within Dinas Powys but also and more significantly towards and crossing the already congested junction at the Merry Harrier and beyond.
Importantly from the Authority's perspective this is a site which for many years the authority has considered the potential need for a by-pass, and therefore this site would be a significant departure from many years of concern, This would signify a poor evaluation of the impact of this candidate site by the authority based on previous concerns and work by the authority themselves.
I would also like to object on the ground of significant loss of green space and ecology which I do not believe has been fully assessed or addressed via the Green Infrastructure statement or Preliminary Economy Appraisal which is wholly insufficient to provide certainly of mitigation for the scale of this greenfield site.
The clear loss of greenbelt at this location would result in the merging of two communities of Dinas Powys and Llandough. In this location this development would constitute the loss of green space in its entirety not merely reduce it.
Also do not believe the engagement of 52 individuals as set out in the community engagement constitutes a full and accurate reflection of the views of local residents accounting for less than 0.4% of the population.
On balance when considering all candidate sites across the authority, and given the housing numbers the authority needs to achieve, this site would represent a poor choice, creating a significant numbers of new and additional challenges for the authority.