Objectors say proposal will lead to loss of privacy and bad traffic
RESIDENTS living around Clearwater Way in Lakeside have objected to a plan to build two extra floors of flats to create a four-storey building.
Objections submitted to Cardiff council are that the building would be imposing and overlook gardens, and that traffic and parking around Clearwater Way would be made worse.
The block at 17-41 Clearwater Way currently has eight shopping units, with a floor of apartments above. The developer is proposing to build two further floors to create 15 new apartments, as well as an extra shopping unit, to extend Waterloo Tea.
Five of the eight shopping units are currently unoccupied.
Resident Mr Raja Ali Usman said: “The plan has the building double in height and the appearance of a student style accommodation block more suited to Cathays or the City Road area. It would be damaging to the Lakeside skyline.”
Mrs Derian Aitkenhead said: “Standing in my garden and dining room or my daughter’s bedroom imagining the new height of this building gives me a feeling of being hemmed in with a total loss of privacy.
“We have young teenage daughters who already have expressed a reluctance to go into the garden to enjoy the sun and perform exercise should this development go ahead.”
Miss Katharine Lenton said: “There is already not enough car parking to support both residents and visitors to Tesco. The buses often don’t turn up so people won’t want to rely on public transport. They are unlikely to live here without a car.”
Dr Jiri Priban said: “The current traffic situation is already dangerous, especially for schoolchildren who, due to the high number of parked cars, often do not have good visibility when crossing the road.”
Ms Valerie Ford said “My husband and I are disabled and often need ambulances to get to Heath and Llandough hospital. How are these ambulances going to get up and down our street with cars constantly parked?
“We already have people on drugs and alcohol who are constantly hanging about Tesco. The area is being cheapened and devalued. We have worked all our lives and paid our council taxes to live in a nice area which is currently turning into an awful place to live.”
The developer has compared the proposal to a four-storey block of flats nearby on Celyn Avenue, but residents have said this is not comparable as it does not overlook or impose on homes in the same way.
Bablin Molik, councillor for Cyncoed and Lakeside, supports the residents’ objections.
“We don’t have the local amenities to support so many flats and the traffic would be horrendous,” she said.
The agent for the developer, Steffan Harries said: “This is a really positive project for the local area that will offer improved shopping facilities, new homes and a vast improvement to a tired looking street scene. We have undergone extensive pre application discussions with the local authority, and believe we have achieved their broad support for the scheme.”
- The proposal is due to be debated by Cardiff Council planning committee on December 16.
