P-05-738 Public Petition for the Dinas Powys By-Pass - Correspondence from the Vale of Glamorgan Council to the Chair, 10.07.17
For the attention of Mr Mike Hedges
Dear Sir
Petition P-05-738 Public Petition for the Dinas Powys By-Pass
Thank you for your letter dated 19th June 2017 in respect of the petition for the Dinas Powys By-pass.
I can advise you that the current position on this matter is as detailed below.
The Dinas Powys by-pass was originally proposed in the late 1970s and a by-pass route protected in the former South Glamorgan Structure Plan (1977) and in the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Adopted Unitary Development Plan 1996-2011. However, the route was not included as protected in the current Local Development Plan 2011-2026. Notwithstanding this fact, I do consider that the route identified in previous development plans for a Dinas Powys bypass is still largely protected as a consequence of the area to the east of Dinas Powys, having been designated as a Green Wedge in the approved Local Development Plan. This designation seeks to prevent the coalescence of the settlements of Dinas Powys, Penarth and Sully and as a result, land would be available should a scheme be brought forward for a new road.
It is considered that whilst the provision of a by-pass would address through traffic congestion issues on Cardiff Road within Dinas Powys, any scheme should also seek to address the primary issues which cause the congestion itself. A key issue in this regard is the constraint imposed by the Merrie Harrier and Barons Court junctions, which impact on the ability of traffic to flow in a west-east direction along Cardiff Road and beyond. The provision of a by-pass alone, without wider consideration of traffic flows at the Merrie Harrier and Barons Court junctions and would merely transpose the traffic problem to another location.
The Council has been awarded funding by Welsh Government to undertake a study of the Dinas Powys Transport Network in January 2017 and a WelTAG Stage One assessment has been carried out by the Council’s chosen consultants Arcadis Consulting Limited. That report is due to be considered by the Council’s Cabinet in late July 2017. At this meeting consideration will be given to approve options to take forward the issue of the Dinas Powys Transport Network to WelTAG Stage Two Report. The Council has also been awarded funding from Welsh Government in 2017 to undertake the WelTAG Stage Two work. It is expected that subject to Cabinet approval in late July that this piece of work will be completed in Spring 2018. A further report will be presented to Cabinet in Spring 2018 with recommendations for a way forward, and potentially a further funding request to progress solutions for Dinas Powys to WelTAG Stage Three. The options being considered involve all modes of transport to improve the Network.
I hope that this apprises you of the current situation and please do contact me if I can be of any further assistance on this matter.
Yours sincerely
Cllr John Thomas
Leader
The Vale of Glamorgan Council