Cardiff Council says its new development plan will create more than 32,000 new jobs and 26,400 new homes by 2036.
The process of adopting a Replacement Development Plan is now nearing its final stages, with the ‘Deposit Plan' or full plan set to be discussed and agreed by Cardiff Council's Cabinet before being submitted to Full Council for approval.
Cllr Dan De'Ath, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning and Transport, said:
“The new ‘Deposit Plan' will act as a blueprint for development in Cardiff up until 2036 setting out a plan-led strategy that will control development in the city, ensuring that investors and developers know and understand how we want the city to develop.
“Without an up-to-date Local Development Plan, development in the city would happen in a haphazard way, allowing developers to put forward proposals that do not align with our aspirations on how Cardiff should grow, so this is why this process is so important.”
Following the consultation on the Preferred Strategy in summer 2023, a 1% growth rate has been chosen for the duration of the plan.
The council said that key highlights of the ‘Deposit Plan' are:
- Meeting Future Needs: Creating 32,300 new jobs and 26,400 new homes to cater for the growth of the population in the city.
- New Homes: As well as the sites that already have planning permission or are earmarked for development on the strategic sites in the current LDP, new houses will be built on brownfield sites in the city centre, Cardiff Docks and in the International Sports Village. This will give an overall 50:50 split between the use of greenfield and brownfield sites. 25% of all new homes under the plan will be affordable, delivering between 5,000 and 6,000 affordable new homes by 2036.
- New Jobs: The ‘Deposit Plan' supports the Council's Economic Strategy, proposing a range and choice of new employment opportunities through protecting existing employment sites in the current LDP, while bringing forward new sites in the Cardiff Central Zone, Roath Basin, North of Junction 33, North-West Cardiff, Cardiff Parkway and other sites.
- Creating Sustainable Neighbourhoods: Ensuring that all future developments are well-planned, mixed-use developments to create safe, inclusive, accessible and healthy environments for people to live. The council said the strategy sets out how it will tackle deprivation and improve the quality of life by supporting existing centres, delivering affordable homes, while ensuring community facilities are delivered alongside new developments.
- Sustainable Transport and Active Travel: The council said it was essential that any new plan for growth for the city is strictly aligned to its priority to encourage people to travel by public transport, walking and cycling, to make people less reliant on their private car. The aim is to ensure that 75% of all journeys are made by foot, cycling or public transport by 2030 through investing in transport infrastructure to make sustainable travel a more attractive option for the public to use.
- Responding to Climate Change: The ‘Deposit Plan' is in line with the One Planet Strategy to deliver low carbon developments and energy efficient buildings, as well as increasing the supply of renewable energy to new developments and preventing development in flood risk areas.
- Ensuring a net gain in biodiversity and ensuring the resilience of ecosystems: The ‘Deposit Plan' aims to ensure all development maintains and achieves a net gain in biodiversity and promotes the resilience of ecosystems.
- Protecting Cardiff's Environment: Protecting the greenfield sites north of the M4, along with other areas of countryside across the city.
- New and Strengthened Policy in Key Areas: These have been addressed in the ‘Deposit Plan', which ensures that all new policy and legislation that has come into being since the current LDP was adopted are utilised in the ‘Deposit Plan'.
Cllr Dan De'Ath continued:
“The process to deliver a Replacement Local Development Plan is always challenging, but the detailed work involved in this process should not be underestimated. I would like to thank all those who took part in the consultation on the Preferred Strategy last year. The views and ideas put forward have been considered when preparing the ‘Deposit Plan'. More than 400 people joined us for our face to face and online engagement sessions and more than 1000 people completed the survey. Sixty-two representations were made on the Preferred Strategy, and all of these have been incorporated into the ‘Deposit Plan'.
“Creating new jobs and new homes in a sustainable way is a priority for this administration. The new ‘Deposit Plan' is a realistic yet optimistic vision on how Cardiff will develop over the next 12 years.
“This is an LDP for growth, but not un-regulated growth. A plan which will use 50/50 brownfield and greenfield sites, an LDP which will deliver jobs, affordable homes, and help us on the way to net zero so we can strive towards our One Planet Cardiff targets.
“If the ‘Deposit Plan' is approved by both Cabinet and Full Council, a formal eight-week consultation will follow between February 18th and April 15th. All comments received will be submitted with the ‘Deposit Plan', along with any proposed changes in Autumn 2025 to Welsh Government for examination by an Independent Inspector.”
