March report

Community Council News

I want to start by saying that I hope that Chain readers are keeping well - and that the precautions to combat the Coronavirus outbreak have kept you safe. 

The news about the virus has been a priority for the Community Council. We met with some local volunteers and, with them, we published and distributed over 3,000 postcards (available in English and Welsh) to help people look after any self-isolating neighbours. We hope that the postcard can help put people in touch - and provide people with the help they need. So we wish everyone the very best - and we offer our thanks to those who are volunteering. We're a great community!

As ever, one of the main issues we have to deal with is managing the impact of road traffic flowing through our community. Work continues at the Heol Isaf / Llantrisant Road junction - and this, of course, will include replacing the roundabout with traffic lights. 

We are also expecting contractors to be on site in June to begin installing three new zebra crossings on our main road (near Heol Syr Lewis, Ty Mynydd Close and Rectory Close). Hopefully, this work can continue - although the Coronavirus issue may lead to  delays.

We await news from Cardiff Council with regard to an innovative scheme to combat HGV traffic passing through Radyr and Morganstown. A recent consultation proposing an amendment to the existing Weight Restriction Order caused some concern - since it included the entrance to the quarry in the exclusion zone (by mistake). This would have the unwanted effect of allowing quarry lorries to travel along our main road! Cardiff have assured us that this error will be rectified when the order is made. We also wait for news with regard to the proposed closure of Golf Club Lane.

We have consulted residents who live on or near Station Road about possible changes to the area. You can read more about this elsewhere in this Chain.

Also, with regard to Station Road, I'm afraid that we have heard nothing more about the old Spar site, which is becoming a bit of an eyesore. Unfortunately, this is not a good time to start a new business, so we may see the site empty for quite a while. 

We continue to manage many of the open spaces across Radyr and Morganstown, including Radyr Woods. If you want to help, you can join the Radyr Woods Wardens' working parties. They would be delighted to welcome you. The dates are usually posted on our web site, the community web site - and the Radyr, Pentyrch and Morganstown - and Friends of Radyr Woods Facebook pages.

The project to refurbish the children's play area at Drover's Way has taken a step backwards. During the recent heavy rain, the manhole cover in the middle of the playground burst open, sending a small column of water skywards, which flowed across the playground for hours. It seems that the pipe entering the chamber under the manhole cover is much wider than the pipe which exits the chamber. This needs to be dealt with before the playground can be rebuilt. We were so close to finishing this work - but it's clearly important for the site to be safe.

Following the floods, we gave a contribution to our neighbours in Taffs Well to help them with their clean-up operation. This enabled them to buy brushes and other cleaning materials. We want to be good neighbours!

We welcomed our First Minister and local AM, Mark Drakeford, to our council meeting on 20 February. We questioned him about road safety, traffic, youth services and more.

We visited Bethel Chapel on 11 March, with local residents. The building is in a poor state - and the site is looking particularly unkempt. We aim to meet with the owner in the near future. We are also considering possible uses for the site, were the owner to sell. More to follow on this!

We held another meeting of our Youth Engagement Working Group in March. A number of exiting projects are being developed, in liaison with the church, local police and school, to benefit our 12 to 17 year olds.

Our over 50’s lunch club - held at the golf club twice a month - has been postponed for the duration of the Coronavirus outbreak. We hope that our postcards (see above) will help keep lunch club members in touch with the community. Similarly, many events normally held at the Old Church Rooms are being cancelled - so please check with the event organiser before you attend anything.

We continue to work to rebuild the wall between Pentwyn Park and the adjoining flats, following work to improve drainage of the footpath. We have a number of legal niceties to resolve.

Readers may remember that a by-election took place on 6 February, to fill a vacancy in our Morganstown ward. The successful candidate was Allan Cook. Allan has been a resident of the Morganstown ward for more than thirty years. He has been very active in Radyr and Morganstown over that period, having been Chair of the local History Society for 25 years and a long-standing member of the Radyr and Morganstown Association. We are delighted to have Allan on the council - and we are sure that he will make an excellent contribution to our work!

A Welsh language version of this report is available on our website (under 'Our work' / 'The Chair's Blog').

Cllr Huw Onllwyn Jones
Chair
Radyr and Morganstown Community Council
18 March 2020