When is it time to say STOP?
Vale Communities Unite
Vale Communities Unite is a community group set up by local people in the Vale of Glamorgan during 2020. Its aim is to give residents a voice and to protect the local environment from unwanted development.
Wenvoe is fortunate to be protected as a conservation area. It is a beautiful village surrounded by green fields and wildlife.
As a Wenvoe resident you are safe in the knowledge the village around where you live will remain unchanged and most importantly largely undeveloped.
I moved back to my hometown of Barry in 2019. My parents followed shortly after and settled in Wenvoe. They love the Vale as I do, but I am saddened by the seemingly constant destruction of our green spaces. Planning applications approved without a thought for future generations.
Look back and remember the changes you have seen in the Vale in just the last 10 years or 5 years for that matter. How many more green wedge spaces must be lost before it’s time to say STOP?
On July 14th, 2021, VOG Council voted by 9 votes to 8 to approve the building of a Business Park on MODEL FARM a one-hundred-acre tenanted farm in Rhoose, the farm backs down onto Porthkerry Park. The owner of the land L & G has yet to disclose the name of the potential developer of this land. Leaving local communities speculating as to what type of development may soon be on their doorstep.
As a Wenvoe resident you are surrounded by farmland and maybe you would not be wrong in thinking it’s just one farm. What makes this one so special? But does one farm become two and then three? When will we be ready to say STOP and fight for our environment, to give our children and grandchildren the same opportunities as us? To grow up in an environment with fresh air and wildlife. Not the concrete jungles we are getting so familiar with.
This mixed farm has been cared for by four generations of the same family. They are set to lose their home and livelihoods and the destruction of our local area will be irreversible. Imagine your idyllic Porthkerri walk, and then look beyond to the fields in the distance, remember them now as they are soon to be demolished.
There was considerable local opposition to this planning application with over 1000 objections that covered a wide range of issues including:
Alternative local brown sites were not considered including the St Athan’s airfield owned by Welsh Government and currently unused.
The additional problems caused by traffic congestion and resulting pollution on a road system already struggling.
Without the M4 link through Pendoylan traffic will be routed through our villages instead. More damaged roads and unfilled potholes.
The flooding impact from rainwater which already causes problems in the winter at Porthkerri park. Concrete will not replace the natural drainage system of our farmlands and fields, and it must go somewhere.
The wealth of the natural wildlife on this mixed farm included bees, butterflies and other pollinators attracted by acres of wildflowers grown here for seed.
The threat to ancient woodland.
The presence of several endangered species on the farmland.
The importance of the need to produce food locally and to reduce food miles.
For more information and further details of the planned development please refer to our Facebook page – Vale Communities Unite Against the Planned Development at Model Farm.