A council has been heavily criticised over its handling of a new cycleway built through a beloved city park.
Resident say they have ended up with “a great big road, black tarmac going through the middle of a beautiful listed park” with “M4 style” lighting along it.
Grilling the council at a dual scrutiny committee meeting on Thursday, October 30, local representatives, residents and other participants criticised the scheme in Roath Recreational Ground in an upmarket area of Cardiff.
The development actually saw the controversial lights removed again post-installation, with critics pointing to that as evidence that the council had failed to adequately embrace community feedback before proceeding with changes.
Peter Banks, a resident attending the discussion, bemoaned the new addition saying, “What we have got is a great big black tarmacadam road that goes for 400 yards. Then you have got to get off your bike, cross Ninian Road and continue on. We haven’t got a nice, environmental, blended cycle path. We have got a great big road, black tarmac going through the middle of a beautiful listed park. That is the reality. I don’t think anyone would object to a gentle, sympathetic cycle path going through the park. Why would you?”
Members from the Save Roath Rec campaign agreed they weren’t against a cycle path but were angered by the manner in which the council executed its plans, reports Wales Online.
Local conservationists are dismayed by Cardiff Council’s decision to encroach deeper into the historical green space of Roath Rec than initially proposed. Lucy Griffiths, from the Save Roath Rec campaign group, said: “We are conservationists and support active travel. Our concerns have focused on the delivery and the finishes of the scheme.
“The rec is a Grade 1-registered park. Highways did not apply for planning to build 10m into the field, so Welsh Historic Gardens Trust and Cadw procedures have not been followed. Has the council broken the law with this? Ninian Road is a conservation area and residents must observe the council’s conservation appraisal. Why did the council not observe the rules that it enforces?”
Plans are advancing in Cardiff for significant improvements around the renowned park, including new crossings, bus stops and pathways designed to encourage alternative transport choices. Defending the development, Cardiff Council’s director of planning, transport and environment, Andrew Gregory, stressed its importance for safer cycling and walking conditions.
He emphasised the positive impact of the changes, saying: “What people tell you is that they don’t feel safe cycling unless they are segregated from traffic.”
Mr Gregory also praised the forthcoming shared path on Roath Rec as an “amazing” facility, particularly beneficial for family cycling lessons, while suggesting the former paths were a chaotic “mess” unsuitable for cyclists and pushchair users.
He stated: “Although they are very popular… we all know in wet weather they become unusable.”
Mrs Griffiths countered by saying that these paths only reached such a state due to lack of maintenance. She expressed her frustration, recounting: “In my living memory… it has never been maintained. I have sprained my ankle on it. There are ditches because it is so well used. Really, it is like [using] a sledgehammer to crack a nut. They just needed to maintain the parks and could have widened it to include the bikes. That seemed like a sensible solution.”
Criticism was also levelled at the council’s consultation process, deemed inaccessible by a transport expert who remarked that the “fragmentation of the information is hard for public accessibility”.
Cardiff Saracens Rugby Football Club, while acknowledging the benefits of the cycle path and the importance of reducing carbon footprints, said it was disappointed with the lack of communication from authorities regarding pitch reductions: “This was information that was not given readily as we were heading towards the start of the 23-24 season when we were informed of this and as such we had to scramble to keep our home at Roath Rec.
“We had to re-arrange matches to be played away because we didn’t have a home pitch to play on. We had to buy our own rugby posts with the help of fundraising from the local community.”
The council has called the reduction in pitches a temporary measure and is set to review requirements for each site across the city.
Heritage body Cadw emphasised that the council ought to have conducted a heritage impact assessment from the beginning.
Claire Moggridge, head of transport at the council, said: “I am satisfied that the consultation process done by officers who work for me was very robust. They have worked very hard and I support them 200%.
“We consult with many people, not just the local residents, and everybody has conflicting views. It is difficult, but as Andrew said, we acknowledge that maybe we can look at that again and we are committed… to look again.
“Each scheme is different. How we consulted on the closure of the bus station historically followed a certain communication process, how we consulted on the tram train… followed a certain process. Every project requires to be assessed in its own means. This is by no means a large value project for us and maybe that is where we made the error.”
