Our office is now closed for Christmas and the New Year.

We will be back on 2 January.

 A very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year to all of you!

We had a great time on Wednesday, 18 December, as we celebrated the festive season with our friends at the lunch club that we arrange at Radyr Golf Club, every second Wednesday.

Our volunteer drivers ferried almost 60 resident to the club, to enjoy meeting Father Christmas (nothing cheesy about this lunch club!); to receive their Christmas gifts; to take part in a free raffle; to enjoy turkey with all the trimmings, Christmas pudding and a mince pie - and to enjoy listening to Aeron Hughes' performance of songs from the sixties and seventies (along with the odd Christmas song).

If you would like to attend the lunch club in 2020, please contact our clerks here. You will be very welcome!

We are pleased to report that the kissing gate leading from Junction Terrace to Radyr Woods has been repaired. The previous gate had been damaged and removed - either by wear-and-tear or by vandalism. This enabled motorcyclists to gain access to the woods - which was dangerous - and damaging to the natural environment.

Our thanks goes to Cllr Rod McKerlich who arranged for Cardiff Council to replace the gate - with the minimum of delay.

If you see any damaged gates, fences etc - on public land - please let us know.

If you see motorcyclists causing danger and damage in Radyr Woods (or in a similar location) please let the police know.

Many of you will know that we celebrated the arrival of the Christmas season with events at the Sidings, the Granny Park and on Station Road.

Our thanks go to the Radyr and Morganstown Association for all their hard work in putting on a great show on Friday for the lighting of Station Road, and to our assistant clerk,  Julie Hopkins and Cllr Helen Lloyd Jones for arranging the Christmas trees and the carols at Windsor Gardens, the Granny Park and the Sidings.

And a huge thank you to the children of Ysgol Gwaelod-y-Garth for singing at the Granny Park; to Radyr Comprehensive School pupils for their performance at the Sidings - and the children of Radyr and Bryn Deri Primary Schools for singing at Windsor Gardens.

And here is a message to all of you from all of us at Radyr and Morganstown Community Council!

Transport for Wales are currently managing the reissue of free bus passes across Wales
 
Here’s an update on the renewal programme TfW is managing on behalf of all 22 local councils in Wales.
 
There are currently around 750,000 bus passes in Wales and the current green coloured cards will expire on 31 December 2019 and not be accepted on buses. Since September TfW has been raising awareness of the changes, and already they have received 450,000 applications. With the deadline now fast approaching they are keen to promote the changes as much as possible to ensure they reach as many people as possible and provide time for people to reapply and receive their new-style cards before the end of the year. 
 
Cardholders can either reapply online at www.tfw.wales/travelcards ​or by paper, which they can download via the TfW website or pick up a copy from their local council. They can also request a copy in the post by calling the helpline on 0300 303 4240.
 
The new cards offer the same travel benefits for 60s and over and eligible disabled persons.
 
There are also ‘How to videos’ available here (in English) and here  in (Welsh) 

Residents living in, or near, Llantarnam Drive and Pilgrim Close may be wondering what might be the cause of the sound of heavy machinery heard recently.

Plasdwr inform us that this is as a result of an archaeological survey being undertaken on land that will be part of Phase 2 of the Plasdwr development. These surveys are undertaken before parcels of land are put out to tender, for developers to bid to build housing on the land. In this way, developers can avoid the problem of discovering an ancient fort (for instance) halfway through building works.

Phase 2 will begin during 2020 - and is predicted to take five years to complete.

The following plan shows the extent of Phase 2 - along with the predicted timings of every other phase. You can see a larger copy of the plan here.

This just in from Plasdwr:

Our contractors, Alun Griffiths, made good progress on the infrastructure work along Llantrisant Road in November. At time of writing, the essential highway drainage work is complete, and the road is being resurfaced ready to reopen at peak times. November was particularly difficult for residents in north west Cardiff who have been affected by these works and we’re sorry for the disruption the works have caused.

From next week until February, the Alun Griffiths team on Llantrisant Road will be working further east, on the south side of the carriageway opposite the filling station.  Work will stop for two weeks over the Christmas break with no temporary lights in place from December 20th until work starts again on January 6th.

Off the highway, Alun Griffiths is continuing drainage work to the north and south of Llantrisant Road. They will also be diverting existing Virgin Media phone and broadband lines and carrying out gas protection works on an existing gas main. This work will require a piling rig and will be carried out in two phases; three weeks in December and one week in March.

We’re aware that congestion has been particularly bad throughout November due to the requirement for 24hr lights to safely complete the highway drainage, which requires a 2.5-metre-deep and 750cm trench in the road. We had originally hoped to complete these works earlier, but the work programme has been delayed by unforeseeable events including the discovery of uncharted, existing utility infrastructure, bad weather and ground conditions.

We’re expecting to be able to remove the 24hr lights in the week commencing December 9th and revert back to 09:30-15:30 traffic lights. These timescales are correct at the time of writing, if anything changes updates will be posted on our Twitter channel @plasdwr.

We have received this message from Rehaz, Angela and Aisha Abdoolla - a family that helps us with the lunch club that we arrange at Radyr Golf Club. We are pleased to publish it here: 

"We are organising a fundraiser in Cardiff in aid of UNICEF UK towards the "War on Disease" project. According to UNICEF Statistics, up to 1.5 million children still die each year because they haven't received the right vaccines. 

The fundraiser will take place on Sat 7 December 2019 (between 1-5pm) at St John's Church Hall in Danescourt, Cardiff. CF5 2SH (full details can be seen in the attached poster).

The event has been officially registered with UNICEF UK. A copy of the agreement is also attached.

We would be very grateful if you could share the details of this event with your network of family, friends and colleagues.

Any donations (however small) are also welcome through our donation page or by attending and donating on the day  - or by purchasing food and other items.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/danescourt-unicef

Many Thanks,

Rehaz & Angela & Aisha Abdoolla
Fundraisers on behalf of UNICEF UK"

As seen on Llantrisant Road this afternoon...it looks as though the 24 hour traffic lights will be gone very soon!

Let's hope they've laid all of the pipes and cables they need - and that it all works!