The next MP & AM Advice Surgery will be on Friday 4 October between 5:00 and 6:00pm at the Old Church Rooms, Park Road, Radyr.  Mr Kevin Brennan MP will be attending the surgery.  No appointment is needed. 

For further details, click on: MP & AM Advice Surgery (English) or MP & AM Advice Surgery (Welsh).

Each year, the accounts of Radyr and Morganstown Community Council are audited by the Auditor General for Wales and are available for inspection by local electors following the conclusion of audit. 

Please click on Notice of Conclusion of Audit for Year Ended 31 March 2019 to see the notice and contact details for local electors to arrange an appointment to inspect the accounts.

Please click on Annual Return for Year Ended 31 March 2019 to see the Annual Return.

Radyr and Morganstown Community Council was invited by Cardiff Council to submit ideas for 'local infrastructure ideas', which could be funded through Section 106 agreements, or by other means. 

We consulted about this with the public (via an online survey) and the Radyr and Morganstown Association. We also received a number of ideas from our community councillors.

We have included all of the ideas we received in a spreadsheet, which we have sent to Cardiff Council, with a covering letter. We were given a tight deadline by Cardiff, which meant that we had to move quickly to respond.

The 41 ideas we received range from drainage works on the route of the proposed Penrhys Pilgrimage path - to a new community hall on the Mound Field (behind Pugh's Garden centre). We have included every eligible idea in our spreadsheet. We will need to discuss some of the ideas with other interested parties in Radyr and Morganstown.

Some of the ideas we received dealt with issues that require revenue funding, or the development of new services or events, rather than infrastructure and capital costs. These were not included in our spreadsheet.

Our next step is to meet with Cardiff Council officials to discuss the 41 ideas - and to press for the adoption of as many of them as possible - as projects to be funded either with Section 106 money, or via Cardiff's mainstream funds.

The spreadsheet is quite an ambitious list - but we are an ambitious community council. And if we didn't ask Cardiff Council for these improvements, then we couldn't complain if other parts of Cardiff benefited from new developments, whilst we got nothing.

Cardiff Council has explained that their Infrastructure Ideas List will remain a live and amendable document. As such, we can add to the list any ideas that come to mind over the coming months and years.

What do you think about the ideas in our spreadsheet?

Have we missed something? Do you disagree with something?

Let us know by leaving a comment, below.

What is a Section 106 agreement? This is a legal agreement between an applicant seeking planning permission and a local planning authority. It is used to mitigate the impact of, for instance, a large housing development on the local community and its current infrastructure. For example, new housing could mean more cars on the roads and more children attending local schools, putting more strain on local services. As such, Section 106 Agreements often require a financial contribution from the developer, to fund projects that can help mitigate the impact of the development.

Radyr Woods is a hugely valuable resource for Radyr and Morganstown residents. 

This little green oasis brings a natural woodland and a wide diversity of wildlife right to our doors. As the seasons change, so do the woods - and no two visits are the same.

However - the woods don't look after themselves! Without the work of the Radyr Woods Wardens, paths would be overgrown, brambles would thrive, weeds would choke everything - and the ponds would turn green and foul.

So - if you like Radyr Woods, why not join the wardens to help maintain and develop this great habitat? They are looking for new volunteers - and would be more than happy to welcome you to the team, whether you can spend an hour every month, or more, or less.

​You can find out more about the wardens, here. And if you want to be a warden (or if you're just warden-curious) you can contact our clerk to discuss the possibilities.

During our recent meeting with Cardiff Council, we were invited to develop (for consideration by Cardiff), proposals for improving Station Road and the surrounding area, to improve its role as a place for the community to meet, shop and socialise.

This could include introducing a one-way system, changes to parking, closure to traffic at specific times and more. 

This is all very exciting - and we will be consulting with residents about this in the near future.

​So please keep an eye out for more news about this!

During our recent meeting with Cardiff Council we were informed that the nextbikes station will be located outside McColl's on Station Road.

The station will be installed in the very near future.

The bike station will measure 7m by 2m (7m by 1 m without the bikes).

If this location proves to be unsuitable, the station can be moved quite easily.

Cardiff is also considering installing electric bikes at Radyr Station. Other locations may also be considered.

What is a nextbike? This is a system which rents bicycles for anyone who has downloaded the nextbikes app onto hir, or her, mobile. You can rent a bike from any nextbike station - and leave it at any other station. You can read more about nextbikes here.

This could be another useful resource for Radyr and Morganstown residents. For instance, you could go to town on the train - but fancy cycling home. Now you will be able to grab a nextbike and enjoy riding along the Taff Trail.

​We will have to see how the nextbikes look outside McColl's. Will they limit the room available for pedestrians? Let us know what you think after they are installed.

Following its recent consultation about the future of Golf Club Lane, Cardiff Council has taken the decision to close it to traffic.

A traffic regulatory order is being prepared by the Council (which will be issued for consultation, in due course).

​Start of works is expected in summer 2020.

Bollards will be placed at either end of the lane (which is not deemed suitable for emergency vehicles, even when the main road was blocked).

Golf Club Lane will certainly be safer for walkers as a result of this move - which could also reduce the use of Bryn Derwen as a rat-run.

​More road safety measures are being considered, of course, including a 20mph zone for Radyr and Morganstown.

You can read about all of the road safety ideas here.

We held another meeting with Cardiff Council's Head of Transportation on 10 September. It turned out to be a very positive meeting - and it was great to hear Cardiff officials saying how much they valued the close relationship they had developed with our community, through the work of Radyr and Morgantown Community Council - and its Road Safety Working group. Our thanks go, again, to Cllr Rod McKerlich (our County Councillor) for facilitating the meeting.

This is what we discussed:

• a positive response had been received to Cardiff's consultation on installing three new zebra crossings in R&M. These were now at detailed design stage. The work would go out to tender in October, with start of works planned for January / February 2020. These would be funded with £300k of Section 106 money, released early by Redrow Homes. They would be simple zebra crossings (not pelican crossings) since these would enable pedestrians to cross more quickly, compared to waiting for pelican lights to change.
• a survey had been undertaken on Windsor Road, at the bend where there is no pavement. Pavement design and layout was now at the design stage - to be followed by a consultation. Start of works could be around March 2020. The scheme could include parking restrictions on the bend.
• the 20mph zone (which would include all of R&M apart from Parc Radur) would require a traffic regulatory order. This was in the hands of Cardiff's lawyers - but the work would take some time, with consultation on the orders likely to take place in early 2020, with a 3 week response time. Objections were likely (most other 20mpg schemes had led to objections), so start of works on this (if it was to proceed, following the consultation) was likely to be spring / summer 2020. In the meantime , R&MCC could help prepare the local community for introduction of the zone.
• Cardiff agreed to include Heol Isaf and Ty Nant Road in its air quality monitoring programme, to evaluate the impact of road improvement works, including the 20mph zone.
• consultation with regard to the closure of Golf Club Lane had been completed - and the decision taken to take the process forward. As such, the traffic regulatory order was being prepared. Start of works was expected in summer 2020. Bollards would be placed at either end of the lane (which was not deemed suitable for emergency vehicles, even when the main road was blocked)
• it was agreed that Cardiff Council would carrying out an assessment of the junction of De Clare Drive and King's Road (at the roundabout by Radyr Station), to assess whether there is justification for highway improvement works. Any resultant scheme would be added to Cardiff's future programme to be ranked against all similar road safety schemes.  Any public consultation would be undertaken only when a suitable scheme had funding secured.
• it was agreed that Cardiff would consider measures that could be implemented to calm traffic along Bryn Derwen. In the meantime, the closure of Golf Club Lane could help, by removing traffic travelling along Bryn Derwen to use the lane as a rat run. It was noted that Bryn Derwen had been approved as a location for speed monitoring by local volunteers
• the Nextbikes station was to be located, in the near future, outside McColl's on Station Road. The bike station would measure 7m by 2m (7m by 1 m without the bikes). If this location proves to be unsuitable, the station could be moved quite easily. Cardiff was also considering installing electric bikes at Radyr Station. Reference was made to the Lime Bikes scheme in Vienna, where members of the public are paid for charging bikes in their homes, before replacing them on the street, for hire by registered users (https://www.li.me/about-us)
• it was agreed that R&MCC should develop, for consideration by Cardiff, proposals for improving Station Road and the surrounding area, to improve its role as a place for the community to meet, shop and socialise. This could include introducing a one-way system, changes to parking, closure to traffic at specific times and more. 
• reference was made to the prosed Coryton link, which would place a train station opposite Radyr Station, on the other side of the Taff. This could ease journeys east and west across the city - and encourage more people to use public transport
• Cardiff Council explained that the proposed park and ride schemes (near the M4 and on the A470) were experiencing delays - but these were still planned
• R&MCC explained that it was working with Sustrans to develop proposals with regard to safe cycling and walking. Cardiff explained that it was intending to work with Living Streets; although the focus would be the city centre, the principles involved could apply to R&M. In the meantime R&MCC could encourage residents to use public transport when travelling to the city centre
• R&MCC explained that it's Road Safety Working Group was developing place-making ideas, which would be presented to the community council in the near future
• Cardiff explained that a further £638k of Section 106 money had been earmarked for R&M, over and above the £300k released by Redrow (as described above). This would become available when house-builders' trigger points were reached. The total Section 106 money to be generated by the Plasdwr project was £25m.
• Cardiff explained that a white paper was to be submitted to Cardiff Council in the autumn, discussing key development projects across the capital, including the cross-rail scheme, park and ride facilities and active travel schemes. The estimated cost of these works was £1bn
• Cardiff agreed to arrange a meeting of all the agencies who could monitor and enforce the restrictions on HGV traffic through R&M. This would discuss strategies for ensuring better enforcement. Representatives from R&MCC would be invited to the meeting - and would provide a note, beforehand, setting out the extent of the problem and the outcome to be sought at the proposed meeting.

H O Jones
Chair
​Radyr and Morganstown Community Council