As far as we know, the reservoirs still belong to Welsh Water although their sale to Western Power Distribution (WPD) is reputed to be near completion. Welsh Water have therefore decided that it would be more appropriate for WPD to take over the role of issuing permits, and signs to this effect have recently been appearing around the reservoirs. The good news is that in future there will be no charge for permits, but in theory you still need one to visit the reservoirs. A permit can be obtained either from the ranger at the site or by writing to Mr. C. Oosthuizen, WPD, Avonbank, Feeder Road, Bristol, BS2 OTB. You may be interested to know that Mr. Oosthuizen is the Finance Director of Western Power. If you write for a permit, you may like to tell him what you think of Western Power’s plan to destroy a valuable and much loved environmental asset for the benefit of its American shareholders.
If you have visited the reservoirs in the last few weeks you will have noticed that the Lisvane water level is extremely low, exposing a large area of mud on the reservoir bed. Contrary to rumours that the reservoir is being drained prior to building work, or that it has sprung a serious leak, there is a much more straightforward explanation. Water from Lisvane reservoir is still used to supply businesses in Cardiff Bay: in particular the Allied Steel and Wire plant. This has recently resumed production under its new Spanish owners, and therefore the demand for water has increased. Due to the extremely dry autumn, the rate at which water is being used has far exceeded the inflow from the Nant Fawr stream, and the reservoir has dropped to an unprecedented low level. On 4th October, Welsh Water began pumping water from Llanishen reservoir into Lisvane reservoir because of fears that the latter would dry out and its clay banks and foundations would be damaged. Despite having had two large industrial diesel pumps running for the last three weeks, there has only been a slight improvement in the situation. Welsh Water are contracted to supply water to Cardiff Bay for the next ten years, so this is likely to be a continuing problem. If Western Power ever got their way and drained most of Llanishen reservoir, it will not be there to act as a reserve water supply. Lisvane may well run dry resulting in serious damage to its structure and its value as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Although Welsh Water persuaded OFWAT, the water regulator, that Llanishen reservoir was surplus to requirements, they have already been proved wrong.
Western Power submitted a planning application to build 346 houses on the site of Llanishen reservoir in December 2002. Not surprisingly, an application of this magnitude takes time to determine and Cardiff County Council had to consult a number of statutory bodies including the Environment Agency, the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), the Sports Council, as well as local residents. Early indications were not favourable, with objections being registered by CCW and the Sports Council, as well as serious concerns being raised by the Environment Agency. There was also a huge public outcry with many letters of objection being sent to the Council by members of the public (thanks to all who took the trouble to write). As a result, Western Power made it known to the Council that they would be submitting a substantially modified plan that would seek to address these objections. The Council, in turn, put the original application on hold, pending the arrival of this revised plan. Although originally expected in June, the revision never materialised, and, somewhat surprisingly, Western Power has now appealed to the Welsh Assembly and asked for its planning application to be decided by a public inquiry. The grounds for this request are that the Council failed to determine the original application within the statutory eight week period! Western Power are obviously engaged in some sort of strategic ploy and we believe that they are still anticipating some indication from the Council Planning Committee about its views on the acceptability of the planning application. Although the Welsh Assembly has yet to decide whether they will refer the application to a public inquiry, RAG is already making plans for this eventuality, and will shortly be launching an appeal to boost our fighting fund so that we can secure the best legal team to present our case.
Perhaps the best way of halting the plans to build on the reservoirs lies with the new Unitary Development Plan which has just been placed on deposit by Cardiff County Council. This is such an important issue that we have included a separate leaflet explaining what you should do to ensure that the Council protects the Nant Fawr corridor. In addition to our own letter writing campaign on this issue, the Lisvane UDP Action Group will also be circulating a briefing leaflet dealing with issues of special interest to Lisvane residents. We urge residents in Lisvane to write in support of the issues raised in both leaflets.