Couples £300k Home To Be Demolished For Cycle Path

A couple in Wales are in shock after losing a battle to save their £300,000 home from being demolished.

The four-bedroom house, located on the outskirts of Cardiff, is to be knocked down to create a cycle path, which will lead towards a new social housing development.

Vaughan and Alison Williams - both retired - have lived at their home for more than 20 years and they put up a fight to save it, but yesterday (Thursday 28 July) six councillors on the planning committee voted in favour of the project, while two voted against and two abstained.

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Responding to the news, the Williams' said: "We've got no problem with social housing and when we purchased our property it was in a quiet cul-de-sac.

"The demolition won't make us feel secure and it'll change the dynamic of the street. You don't expect a perfectly good house to be demolished.

"The cycle path leads to nowhere, there's no shops at the bottom of the road. If the decision wasn't reversed eventually we would move because our dynamics would change completely.

"As a community here, we don't object to social housing, only the cycle lane."

The plan will see 45 new social houses built, after nearly 300 local residents signed a petition calling on the council to reject the pathway plans in the Pontprennau suburb.

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Neighbour Joanna Fashan - who presented the petition to Cardiff council's planning committee - said: "Residents deliberately purchased properties on this street as it was a closed cul-de-sac, knowing we could raise our families safely, have quiet retirements, feel safe living alone, and all the other positives that living on such a street has.

"This alleyway creates a rat run. We are therefore at risk of higher crime rates, for example from opportunist car thieves. This puts the safety and security of the whole community at risk."

But this notion was rejected by Cllr Ali Ahmed.

"We're not creating any ghetto," he said.

"Most people who live in social housing, some of them are solicitors, barristers, engineers, you name it. Yes, we are destroying one house, but we are trying to provide 45 much-needed homes for Cardiff residents."

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Others argued that it was an unsuitable location for social housing, as there is little in the way of amenities or connectivity nearby.

A spokesperson for developers United Welsh said: "This development will provide much needed high-quality homes for affordable rent and first-time buyers.

"It is important for the proposed new homes to integrate well with the community and for pedestrians and cyclists to have adequate access to local facilities and amenities.

"Local residents are being consulted as part of the planning process.”