Ely Bridge News: 05/02/07

The bulk of cyclists who turned up for the demo were Penarthians, but Cycle Cardiff joined us with a contingent of 16 cyclists. See their account of the event here.

The Campaign so far

Original plans for the sports village included plans for a footbridge to connect the sports village with nearest population centre (Penarth) and the nearby train station (Cogan) on the Bridgend to Cardiff line. But while money has been spent building extensive road works for car access - with two lane highways in and out – the bridge has been dropped.

A grassroots campaign started on national "Leave your Car at Home Day", 22nd September, when a large number of Penarthians gathered at the site of the proposed bridge and sported swimming gear to make the point that they cannot get into town by bike unless they swim across the Ely. The campaign was well received in the media, and has gained substantial support among the citizens of Penarth.

On October 25th we wrote to the then Leader of the Council Jeff James and presented him with the names and addresses of over 300 Vale of Glamorgan residents. These residents all expressed their wish for us to meet with the Council Leader and relevant members of his cabinet to discuss what it will take to get the bridge built.

Jeff James publicly expressed great support for our concern. On November 2nd, he told the Penarth Times "I am happy to work with the campaigners to examine ways of providing such a link."

Both the media and the residents of Penarth welcomed this apparent sea change from the Council. Until then, the Council's "support" for the Ely Bridge had never progressed beyond the general level of approving applications for planning permission from Cardiff Council; more specifically, the Vale Council had never applied for a transport grant or any other source of funding related to this matter.

However, in a private letter to us, Jeff James declared no need to talk us, because his officerss were already "doing everything they can" towards the bridge. In a stroke of fate, Jeff James' Tory cabinet was ousted by vote of no confidence a few days later. We renewed our request to meet with the Council Leader, and the new Labour Leader, Margaret Alexander was much more forthcoming. She met us just a few days before the demo, and assured us that the bridge is back on the agenda.

A Tale of Two Councils

One difficulty with getting the Ely bridge built is that it falls between both Cardiff and the Vale and Glamorgan council. Initially, the bridge was part of the infrastructure associated with the International Sports Village, and Cardiff was the main driver, with the Vale merey approving planning permissions, but not making any financial contributions. Cardiff Council, however, eventually decided NOT to include the bridge in the Sports Village package and instead spent the Section 106 money arising from the development on extensive roadworks. Perhaps they wanted to eat the cake and have it too: Cardiff Council applied for a Transport Grant from the Welsh Assembly towards the bridge, but this was rejected, on grounds that Cardiff should have got the developers to pay for the bridge (i.e. use the S106 money).
Fortunately, things look a bit brighter now. Thanks to your efforts and our persistent campaigning, both councils now realize the importance of the bridge. Although they have not yet made any financial commitments, both councils have indicated that they could use S106 money from new developments to fund the bridge. In Penarth, this could be money arising from the Penarth Heights Redevlopment (Billybanks). In addition, there is a chance that Cardiff might benefit from a Living Landmarks grant. Sustrans have entered the Ely Bridge as a project in their Connect2 bid for the Lottery fund. If successful, this would bring £1.15m towards the estiamted £3.5m for the bridge. The outcome of the bid will be determined by public TV vote in autumn.

Ely Bridge News

Wednesday, 2 May 2007

Cycle Cardiff Account of the Demo

About Us

Why do we want a bridge?

The Campaign so far

A Tale of Two Councils

Blog Archive