Testun llawn:
As a resident of Dinas Powys, this submission focuses on Site Reference HG1 KS2 Land to the North of Dinas Powys. My key concerns, comments, queries and objections are set out in the attached Annex.
Site Reference: HG1 KS2 Land to the North of Dinas Powys I Disagree / Object and request that the VoGC reconsiders the allocation of this site within the replacement RLDP. Development at Eastbrook would not be sustainable.
Comments:
As a resident of Dinas Powys, this submission focuses on Site Reference HG1 KS2 Land to the North of Dinas Powys. Please find below a summary of my key concerns, comments, queries and objections - there is crossover and duplication in parts. I would consider speaking at any future hearings.
1. It is crucial that this stage and future processes and decisions are not rushed, that matters are given full and proper consideration. There has been insufficient time for decision makers and the public to review and the information and evidence, which is overwhelming. Minutes / recordings of previous council meetings suggest that councillors were required to reach decisions swiftly and without the opportunity to properly consider the documents / evidence and that the RLDP was rushed through to public consultation in spite of valid concerns raised by councillors and pleas for sufficient time to consider the evidence. See for example the minutes of the place scrutiny committee extraordinary hybrid meeting on 6th January 2026 and the recording of that meeting where Councillors raised concerns regarding the volume of papers (900+ pages). The public has similarly been placed under acute pressure to navigate and digest the information presented, prepare and submit representations. Has it not been possible / deemed appropriate to extend the statutory 6 week consultation period? Would it not be appropriate to repeat it? 6 weeks has been insufficient for this consultation, the community has been placed under undue pressure and community engagement has been poor. The onus has been left on the community to engage and muddle through the information. Drop in sessions have not provided answers to the deep concerns of residents relating, inter alia, to traffic congestion and flooding. Circa 7 / 8 months? has been allocated to consider the representations in preparation for Stage 4 submission - which is disproportionate to the time afforded to this consultation.
2. Many in the community have said that this a 'done deal' Why, by so many people and so often? and 'don't bother wasting your energy (making representations) it won't make any difference'.
3. Future processes, evidence gathering and decision making must be genuinely independent, avoid any potential for conflicts of interest and ensure that issues and gaps in evidence are properly and fully addressed in good time – decisions should not be rushed through. If Eastbrook remains in the Deposit RLDP at Stage 4, Welsh Government and the Planning Inspectorate must ensure that the Independent Examination process into the soundness of the plan and compliance with statutory requirements is dealt with by highly experienced and wholly independent individuals / organisations with the skills and confidence to reach the correct and independent conclusions.
4. Statements that Eastbrook is in a sustainable location with good access to local services and will also deliver investment in highways improvements, additional school places....." (VoGC spokesman, Penarth Times 9th March 2026) would need to be substantiated. Senior schools, for example, are already significantly oversubscribed. Highways improvements won't alleviate the congestion on the roads. Congestion on the roads will get even worse. Dinas Powys will never have a bypass.
5. In recent years there has been significant development in Dinas Powys including at Scholars Park and two other locations. Development at Eastbrook, which would join us with Penarth and Llandough, is too far.
6. Any claims that 'modern sustainable drainage systems' would be capable of managing surface water runoff and reduce the risk of flooding would need to be substantiated.
The Eastbrook runs through the proposed site and when it rains (even light rain) the fields become very boggy and impassable. Water runs from Seel Park, down the path towards Highfields. There are significant underground water courses at Seel Park and issues with the drainage. Development will only exacerbate the problem and create huge issues for Dinas Powys, Llandough and wider. There won't be any / sufficient land for the water to drain into. Drainage ditches / suds won't work, not for anything more than a light shower.
Residents at Wayside say they have been hit by flooding and silt since the Llandough hospital car parks and new buildings were built, with drainage diverted into the Eastbrook river through attenuation tanks - i.e. that the attenuation tanks have not worked and indeed have made the situation and risk worse.
It is hard to see how the risk of flooding could be mitigated by development at Eastbrook and 'modern sustainable drainage systems'.
Cogent, independent, evidence is required.
It is noted that the same consultants commissioned by the VoGC to undertake the section 19 flood investigation into the 23rd December 2020 flood event have been part of the Persimmon / Boyer team in relation to the Eastbrook development (providing technical support on drainage and services). I'm confused why the Persimmon team / the VoGC would claim that 'modern sustainable drainage systems' would mitigate the risk of flooding.
7. Building on the greenbelt to meet alleged affordable housing requirements - where local infrastructure is already under immense pressure, schools and the medical centre are significantly oversubscribed with limited expansion potential, traffic congestion will worsen and our flood risk will be heightened - is wrong.
8. The negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the community cannot be underestimated or ignored.
9. The wildlife habitat will be lost.
10. Dinas Powys does not have links to existing and new employment zones. It is a rural village. I have not seen evidence in support of a need for so many houses in our rural location. We are looking at hundreds and downstream potentially thousands of people and no jobs to support them.
11. Businesses, employers of all sizes and across all sectors are having a challenging time - redundancies have been steadily increasing for some time. Things are hard and not likely to improve.
12. Under the proposals Dinas Powys would become a commuter belt zone, increasing car use and traffic in the Vale and beyond - contrary to the RLDP objectives.
13. Dinas Powys, Llandough and Penarth would become one if the Eastbrook site goes ahead - whether 250 houses or more. The site lies on the northern edge of the village and is part of the open countryside. Development would erode the existing settlement boundaries. Even though the VoGC may have advised has Persimmon that a smaller higher density residential allocation would be more appropriate, there is talk that Persimmon will eventually succeed in obtaining consent to build 650+ houses. Any development at Eastbrook would remove a huge proportion of the green rural space, which people enjoy and need.
14. A development at Eastbrook would invariably result in an increase in anti-social behaviour and crime, as has happened with Scholars Park whereas historically Dinas Powys has been a rural village with contented residents and a low crime rate - a key reason for my family moving to Dinas in 1975.
15. 40% + affordable housing seems disproportionate.
16. Access to the Eastbrook site is also a concern. Didn't the VoGC Highways department previously conclude that the Eastbrook site is unsuitable?
17. People will continue to drive through Dinas to reach Cardiff, Barry etc - mostly by way of necessity not choice. People need to and will continue to drive - it would be naive to suggest that people will use alternatives to cars and / or that electric vehicles will be the norm. It would be naïve to claim that people will drive less and public transport is a viable alternative to using cars. For example the newish Cardiff bus service to the medical centre on Murch Road. Bus drivers / Murch Road residents say that the bus is always empty. Trains to Cardiff are overcrowded, too infrequent and often delayed or cancelled. The train stations in Dinas Powys are not really accessible. There is no parking at Dinas and the parking at Eastbrook is limited. From Eastbrook the easiest option is to drive into Cardiff / to Cardiff station- - which is defeating the object. There are steep steps at Dinas and Eastbrook, particularly Eastbrook with a bridge over the track. This challenging even for the fitter and more able bodied. Few people could or would want to walk or cycle to work. Commuters: working from home has been / continues to be phased out for many. Even so, traffic along Cardiff Road has increased and congestion has increased, since the new developments in Dinas.
18. The proposed active travel routes are also not viable- take as an example the lane leading to Powys Close, which is mainly banked by walls around private property and of varying widths ranging from 110cm, to 140cm to 180cm. There is also a sharp 90 degree turn in the middle of the lane and gradients at each end of the lane, a particularly steep gradient into Powys Close. Two people cannot walk side by side or pass through any part of the lane. Let alone a bike / wheelchair and a person. Cyclists need to dismount and walk their bikes through. Wheelchair users don't use the lane due to its narrow parts and the steep gradient at the Powys Close end. The lane is only suitable for use in the day, its pitch black at night and unsafe and to erect a light would cause light pollution to surrounding properties. Even in the day time, you cannot see from one end of the lane to the other. When you make it to the top of the lane there is a wall requiring a sharpish left turn across a pavement / drive. Powys Close itself is very steep and hazardous in icy weather. Towards the bottom of Powys Close there is a very steep gradient. It is very difficult to cycle or push a pram up it, impossible to use wheelchair and the fittest find it a challenge walking up it. At the other (Seel Park) end of the path there is also a gradient followed by a downhill slalom if travelling towards Highfields. The pavements are not great. The tarmac in the lane is in a bad state of repair and the lane often floods. Garden boundaries have in the past been vandalised and graffiti has been drawn on the walls. Criminals have in the past attempted to use the lane as a base (and the police were called). Rubbish has also been dumped in the lane and people (including refuse workers) have used the lane as a toilet. The alternative active travel route is not without its issues either, including steep gradients from Chapel Close and up towards Seel Park. Both routes would involve travel alongside Cardiff Road and to crossing Cardiff Road. From Powys Close, Powys Place onto Cardiff Road the quickest and most used route to the Murch shops and Ash Path to St Cyres school is to cross the busy Cardiff road weaving in between the traffic and crossing the railway line (walking up to the pedestrian crossing by the Murch infants school would add on 20 minutes easily and is not a direct route and the crossing by chapel close leads to the Eastbrook station bridge which is not accessible). Its not particularly safe. I believe that, certainly the proposed active travel route through the lane from Highfields / Seel Park to Powys Close and down towards Cardiff Road, falls within the red category, when looking at appendix H of the Active travel route guidance.
19. Our medical centre is already finding it challenging to cope with the number of patients and the needs of its patients.
20. Local Primary and Senior schools are oversubscribed too. If children are required to attend schools out of the area they will need to (1) secure a place (which is usually challenging); and (2) travel to get there.
21. There are no shops within reasonable walking distance of Eastbrook. It would take a good 20 to 25 minutes to walk briskly to the shops / amenities at the Murch or the village and the pedestrian access is poor and dangerous in parts. Adding traffic lights / pedestrian crossings will add to the traffic congestion.
