VICTORY! Lib Dem success on New Zealand Road flats application

5.33.55pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 9th Jul 2009

Cllr. Ed Bridges and John Dixon are pleased that plans for 40 new flats on New Zealand Road have been rejected following representations from the local Lib Dem Focus Team.

The Gabalfa Liberal Democrat Focus Team have been successful in getting controversial plans for new flats in the area REJECTED.

An application was submitted earlier in the year to build 40 new flats on the corner of New Zealand Road and Whitchurch Road. Under the proposals, the existing attractive red-brick block of six four-bedroom flats would have been demolished. A protected tree on the site would also have been lost.

The local Lib Dem team, like many residents, were horrified by the plans. The new flats would have been six stories in height, overlooking the school playground of Ysgol Mynydd Bychan, and the scheme would have provided just 35 car parking spaces, potentially causing parking congestion on neighbouring streets.

Local councillor, Ed Bridges, said: "We were 100% against these plans right from the very start. The existing block is an attractive building and provides spacious housing for our area. What was proposed was a drab, uninspiring block of boxy one and two-bedroom apartments with no amenity space to speak of."

The Lib Dems organised a petition against the scheme, which was presented to the Planning Committee before yesterday's meeting. Cllr. Ed Bridges spoke to the Committee to argue against the application. Our Labour MP and Conservative AM made no representations on the proposals.

After hearing the objections from Ed and local residents, the Planning Committee voted unanimously AGAINST the plans. In commenting on the application, Planning Committee members mentioned the inappropriateness of the proposed building's height and the poor quality of the design.

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesman for Cardiff North, John Dixon, said: "This is a good day for common sense. The Planning Committee listened to our concerns and responded sensibly to them. I hope that the developer will rethink the proposals in light of the strong local opposition and come back with a more realistic application for the site."

The application will appear before the Committee finally next month once the reasons for refusal have been formally written up.