Cardiff was voted as one of the greenest cities in the United Kingdom in 2016 but now residents are calling for tougher planning measures to protect trees and green spaces in the city.
Cardiff Council says that it already has “robust” measures in place to do these things but recent decisions have caused anger and concern among various groups.
In March 2020, mature trees were cut down to make way for luxury homes at Suffolk House in Canton. Cardiff Council was accused of ignoring the location’s conservation area status and an Extinction Rebellion protester was arrested after climbing a 150-year-old tree to stop it from being cut down.
Later that year, developers felled trees to provide future luxury townhouse owners with unobstructed views of Llandaff Fields.
Ashley Drake, the Plaid Cymru candidate for Cardiff North, said: “It’s clear that the city’s natural heritage is being trashed by this council. It’s bending over backwards for the needs of developers but is deaf to the pleas of local people throughout the city, and they need to take action immediately.”
Earlier this week, Cardiff Civic Society expressed frustration on Twitter about the lack of protection given to trees on the Northern Meadows in Whitchurch, and the plans to build a military museum on a children’s park in Cardiff Bay. There are also concerns about the future of woodland in Danescourt and the Flaxland Woods in Gabalfa.
CCS has called on people to write to Caro Wild, the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, and ask him to introduce new planning guidance to protect the capital’s trees and green spaces.