P-05-948 Save the green fields at Cefn Yr Hendy, Miskin
P-05-948 Save the green fields at Cefn Yr Hendy, Miskin
P-05-948 Save
the green fields at Cefn Yr Hendy, Miskin
This
petition was submitted by Sophie Seymour having collected 696 signatures online
and TBC on paper, a total of 696 signatures.
Text of Petition
We call on the National
Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to stop their plans to sell the
green fields at Cefn Yr Hendy, Miskin for 460 houses. We ask that Welsh Government
use their powers to not sell the land for house building and to desist in their
plans for the development which they secured outline planning permission on in
2018. We ask that if they are not able to desist entirely from stopping the
development, to leave some of the fields in their natural state. The land is
owned by Welsh Ministers. We urge Welsh Ministers to take heed of the Climate
Emergency they declared and adhere to the principles of the future generation
act and withdraw, or significantly reduce, plans for building on these
beautiful Welsh fields.
The fields border Coed Yr
Hendy (ancient woodland), the River Clun and the Pant Marsh which is a site of
nature conservation. The fields have 2 large Oak trees, hedgerows throughout
and a good number of Oak saplings at it's northern parts. Any house building
will damage the hedgerows and saplings. A large number of birds, small mammals
and insects make Coed Yr Hendy and the fields their home, birds and bats are
always swooping over the fields to feed - we should not take this away from
them. Building on these fields will have a disastrous outcome for local
wildlife and the local ecological system.
In light of this country's
Climate Emergency it is also becoming more and more important to retain our
trees, hedgerows and green spaces when you consider how they absorb and filter
carbon dioxide, other air pollutants, they aid with rain water drainage and
help with reducing soil erosion. Continuing to leave these fields for sheep
farming would bring immense benefits to our environment in Miskin and beyond.
This is an opportunity for Welsh Ministers to be climate smart and save this
green field site.
Additional Information
The fields are in use for
sheep farming by a tenant farmer who has farmed these fields for decades. They
have also been used by local families for over 70 years for leisure &
enjoying nature. A Village Green application was made in 2017 and while it met
many of the legal criteria it was not ultimately successful but the Inspector
noted that there was “clear evidence of the use of the site for lawful sports
and pastimes”.
There are traffic and
infrastructure implications; local schools and health services are likely to
suffer from unsustainable development. The A4119, running along the side of
some of the fields has extremely high pollution. There is an air quality
management area on the A4119 immediately neighbouring this site. The Rhondda
Cynon Taff Council “Air Quality Progress Report 2019” shows that Nitrogen
Dioxide (NO2) readings for this AQMA have been above the EU and UK legal limit
for the last 12 of 13 years. There are thousands of homes being built within 10
minutes drive at Creigiau, Plasdwr, and Laniltid. We question the need for
these fields to be built on. Adding c.1000 residents to Miskin's population is
not sustainable to the small village (no shops, no health services and 1 Welsh
medium primary school) and will lead to an enormous number of new trips by car
to access services and schools with an additional 460 houses. There are
concerns from local residents that the outline planning permission plans
submitted for Welsh Ministers in 2017 also disregarded aspects of the Rhondda
Cynon Taff Local Development Plan - notably by not committing to providing a
school, by going over the 400 houses specified, by not including a grade
separated interchange onto the A4119 and seeking to build on land directly
opposite Ysgol Llantrisant (not within LDP). Building there will cause fumes
from building works to discharge directly into the school and playground for
years as well as increased traffic - causing more pollution and traffic hazards
for children.
Status
This petition was considered completed by the
Petitions Committee at its meeting on 12/05/2020.
The Committee considered the petition for the first
time and agreed to close the petition at the request of the petitioner.
Full details of the consideration of this petitions
by the committee and related documents can be seen on the Meetings tab above.
It was first considered by the Petitions Committee
on 12/05/2020.
Assembly Constituency and
Region
- Pontypridd
- South Wales Central
Further
information
Business type: Petition
Reason considered: Senedd Business;
Status: Complete
First published: 18/03/2020