In early December, representatives of Western Power, and their subsidiary Llanishen Water, were talking about a holding a press conference on 11th December and opening an exhibition of their development scheme in a vacant shop in Cyncoed village. A few days after the launch of RAG on 4th December, their press conference was cancelled and the exhibition never materialised. Since then, things have gone very quiet and there are rumours that Western Power are undertaking a major revision of their plans. It has also been suggested that a planning application is not now expected until April.
This revision may be a result of the amazing amount of local opposition to the scheme, but the more cynical among us think that it might be all part of Western Power’s long-term strategy. It is a common tactic for developers to initially ‘leak’ plans which they know will arouse strong local concerns, and then to modify them ‘to take those concerns into account’. For example, it would not surprise us if the plans to build on the Nant Fawr meadows were just such a ruse, and that they will come back with a ‘revised’ plan to ‘spare’ the meadows, in the hope that people will be so relieved that they will then raise no major objections to the development of the rest of the site.
RAG is totally opposed to any housing development on the site, whether it involves the meadows or the reservoir land itself, and it is pledged to fight any such planning application.
Obviously, we will let you know as soon as there are any developments.
The RAG Steering Committee has met a number of times since the New Year and one of our initiatives has been to launch a group website at:
We hope that those of you with internet access will take the opportunity to ‘log in’ regularly. Apart from providing general information about the reservoirs and their surroundings, we will provide details of significant developments as they occur on our ‘news’ page.
Since its launch in early December, nearly 400 people have joined the Reservoir Action Group. However, we need to recruit as many members as possible to make our campaign more effective. We are about to launch a major advertising campaign by putting up eye-catching posters in strategic locations around North Cardiff. However, everyone can help by encouraging friends and neighbours to join. On the reverse of this newsletter is a spare membership form. If every member could get one other person to join it would give a great boost to our numbers. If YOU haven’t joined yet, and care about our environment in North Cardiff, please do so now!
The inaugural Annual General Meeting of the Reservoir Action Group will take place on Tuesday 26th February at 7.15 pm in Rhyd-y-Penau School. The purpose of this meeting is purely formal as we will have to agree the Group’s Constitution and elect the Group Committee to take over from the Steering Committee. Obviously, we will provide an update on any developments at this meeting, but it is possible that there will not be much to report. Please note that it is not a public meeting and will be restricted to paid up members of the Group, although there will be a chance to join at the door.