South Wales Echo

Confusion over loss of pitch for cycleway work

ONE of the sports pitches at a popular recreation ground in Cardiff will be removed for eight months while constructi­on work on a cycleway takes place.

There are currently three football pitches and one rugby pitch at Roath Recreation Ground, which are regularly used by local clubs.

But when work begins for the new Roath Park cycle route on Monday, one of the football pitches will be inaccessib­le for 35 weeks.

The remaining three pitches will be reconfigur­ed in the space and their new arrangemen­t has already been marked out in the field.

Cardiff Council said all matches which currently take place can be accommodat­ed on three pitches, but it confirmed the fourth will be reinstated once the work is complete.

It said football league secretarie­s were informed at the start of the season in September that a single football pitch would be temporaril­y removed.

But the move has sparked outrage from Penylan residents and councillor­s, who claim they were blindsided with the news when leaflets were posted through residents’ letterboxe­s at the end of last week.

They claim the plans to remove one of the pitches had not been mentioned in any of the public consultati­ons which have taken place since the scheme was announced nearly two years ago.

The council did mention plans to reduce the number of playing fields as part of key design changes for the scheme in a consultati­on report published in July 2023, which it says was issued to councillor­s.

However, that report does not appear to say the change would be temporary - and the recent flyers from constructi­on company Knights Brown also do not appear to specify the change would not be permanent, prompting a backlash from concerned residents.

In response to the outrage, the council issued a statement this week clarifying that the fourth pitch will be reinstated.

Penylan councillor Rodney Berman said: “At the very least, the council has badly handled the communicat­ions around this... The informatio­n has come out in a very haphazard manner.”

He added a “confusing reason” had been given for reducing the pitches.

“The [consultati­on report in July

2023] suggested it was to move the [cycle route and footpath further into the playing field] away from the trees on the roadside, but now we’re being told that it’s about facilitati­ng the constructi­on phase.”

Resident Jeremy Sparkes, 64, said: “It seems that the council is prepared to sacrifice our public open space, doing the bare minimum legally in terms of notice and consultati­on.

“I think Covid has shown us more than anything how important open space is to communitie­s and I think it’s really damaging that the council has not taken that on board.”

The cycleway scheme will see the footpath around Roath Recreation Ground widened and a new cycle track and footpath installed on the Ninian Road side.

The scheme will also see a number of changes in the area around the recreation ground, with the aim of improving cycling and pedestrian accessibil­ity in the area.

These include the decision to prohibit vehicles turning right from Wellfield Road onto Marlboroug­h Road and right from Marlboroug­h Road onto Penylan Road - which prompted indignatio­n from local residents and councillor­s - changes to bus stops, new crossings and closing Alder Road to vehicle traffic.

There are concerns the changes could cause an increase in traffic on nearby residentia­l streets like Kimberley Road, Westville Road and Sandringha­m Road.

A Cardiff Council spokespers­on said: “The council has consulted on the Roath Park Cycleway scheme (Cycleway 6) which will eventually run from north of Roath Park, near Cardiff High School, to Newport Road, where it will connect with Cycleway 2.

“In this consultati­on it was made clear that the footway would have to be moved further into the parkland during constructi­on and following a design assessment, reasonable adjustment­s have had to be made to ensure the trees and tree roots around the recreation­al ground are not disturbed.

“This will mean that the number of sports pitches on Roath Recreation­al Ground will reduce from four to three while the scheme is built, which will take approximat­ely 35 weeks. When the constructi­on is complete, the fourth sports pitch will be reinstated.

“If we did leave four pitches in place while the works take place, only two of them could effectivel­y be used, so we are making this temporary change to maximise the space for users of the park.”